


Flower from the Fae

by winterknight1087



Series: ON HIATUS: Flower from the Fae: the Untold Stories [1]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Parent, Alcohol Mentions, Angst and Feels, Anxiety Attacks, Dee and Remus are just protective friends of Virgil, Happy Ending, M/M, Multi, Other, Remus is portrayed with brain damage, Slow Burn, Sympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, car crash mentioned, cursing, discussion of past trauma, mention of injury, non binary Remy, nothing too graphic is shown, only a couple injuries mentioned, snake (sweet and harmless), trans Emile
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-24 17:21:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 47
Words: 104,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22301623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterknight1087/pseuds/winterknight1087
Summary: Virgil likes plants, but when he goes to investigate a plant his friend, Remy, tells him about, he doesn’t exactly check out the plant. Little does he know that the handsome man he meets there is a fairy who is about to challenge the world Virgil knows.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Deceit Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani & Sleep | Remy Sanders, Dr. Emile Picani/Sleep | Remy Sanders, LAMP - Relationship
Series: ON HIATUS: Flower from the Fae: the Untold Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667779
Comments: 770
Kudos: 621





	1. Mushrooms Were Not the Plant I Was Looking For

_Bzzt._

_[Trenta4Sandman]: So? New trend or stale coffee? [sent at 1642]_

Virgil rolled his eyes at the message before responding.

_[Anx’sWitch]: you literally told me less than five min ago. I can’t just Apparate like you when you run out of coffee. [sent at 1643]_

_[Trenta4Sandman]: bitch u aint tryin hard enough then [sent at 1643]_

_[Anx’sWitch]: y don’t u go flirt w/ ur SO? [sent at 1644]_

_[HissHissMFs]: plz. I can’t concentrate on my work with u blowing my phone up. [sent at 1645]_

The purple-haired man sighed as he pocketed his phone. There were more vibrations, telling him that the conversation was far from over, but he knew it wasn’t anything important. Remy and Dee could go back and forth for hours about nothing. Virgil could always check his phone later and see which he needed to visit later. Right now, he really only cared about finding the plant Remy told him about and seeing if it were something worth his time.

Of course, the hill Remy told him the plant was located on was almost three miles from the center of town. How he even stumbled upon it was beyond Virgil, not that he would bother questioning it either. What Virgil did know was that of his friend group, Remy had the best eye for finding him new and often times endangered plants. So, he struggled out of his house and on this disgusting walk to see whatever plant it was that Remy had seen.

The top of the hill had a giant sequoia tree, tall grass, and mushrooms. Virgil set his bag down under the tree before beginning to look over the plants, reveling in the silence. First, he looked at the mushrooms, duly noting that they appeared to be a poisonous species. Next, he started looking intently at the grass.

“How peculiar. Rare to find someone so intent on staring at grass.” A voice commented.

Terror ran through Virgil, but he pushed it deep down as he turned to look. Oh, great. There goes his poor little gay heart, he supposed. The voice belonged to some other-worldly man. He had well-kept black hair so dark it almost shone a dark blue. The eyes behind rectangular glasses were a brilliant blue that put even Virgil’s prized Black and Blue Sage plants to shame.

 _Remy is going to lose his shit when he finds out I died because I was too gay._ Virgil thought dully.

“I apologize. I appear to have startled you.” The man commented.

“I…uhh…it’s… umm… well…”

The man raised an eyebrow to the gay mess. “Very eloquently put.”

“I… uhh… sorry… anxiety…” _and you are too hot to be talking to me._

The man simply nodded. “I apologize again then. Do you require any assistance in lowering your adrenaline levels?”

 _What._ “Ah, no, it’s alright… I’ll get over it.”

The man tilted his head looking over the scene of the poor man’s to-be death scene. “You appear to be searching for something. Might I inquire what you are searching for? I may be of some help in locating it.”

 _He really is trying to kill me; hot and nice?_ “Well… uh… a friend told me they… well, you’ll think it’s weird. I mean most people think I’m weird in general so that isn’t saying anything. It’s just not what most people would expect someone like me to be doing with their life, you know? Most people just don’t understand that it works and I enjoy it you know? But I can’t really blame them for thinking it’s weird.”

The man watched as Virgil began to spiral before kneeling and telling him to follow his breathing. He had never had to deal with what the other was undergoing, but he did enjoy research and anxiety was such a common thing among the human population that it was just a useful thing to understand. For that, he was glad as he helped the man control his breathing.

“Now, let’s try this again, without the down-spiral.” He commented to the purple-haired man. “Would you like me to help you find whatever it is you are looking for? If so, what would it be?”

“Well, my friend told me that there was a rare plant up here. Something with purple flowers.” Virgil answered awkwardly. “I’m a botanist who studies plants and from their description of it, it sounds to be an endangered plant.”

The man pursed his lips, thinking. Of course, he knew exactly which plant the human was speaking about, it was only a few feet from his hand. Yet, did he trust this random human not to harm one of the few of its species? Humans usually aren’t interested in plants just for the plants. Yet, this one did not appear to be lying to him. He’d heard of these botanists before, but this was his first meeting with one.

“Pardon this question, as I am not fully aware of what botanists do. What do you plan to do with it, if it is what you think it to be?”

“Oh… umm… well, first I tend to study new plants in their native environment. If it is the one I believe it to be, I would begin a process with the government to bring the specimen back to my greenhouse for conservation efforts where I can control threats, maintain a healthy environment, and breed it with other specimens. Botanists study plants and most attempt to promote their health.”

“So if you find this plant, it’ll be safe?”

“Great, you’re hot, kind, and care for plants,” Virgil muttered, to which the other man decided to pretend he did not hear, though he couldn’t stop the tint to his cheeks. “Yes, I do my best to ensure the safety and survival.”

The man still looked uncertain, and Virgil realized just how much this man seemed to care about the plant they were discussing. He thought before moving over to his bag to pull out his gloves. The man watched, now curious as to what the human was doing as Virgil moved towards a small bunch of mushrooms.

“Here, I can show you what it is I do,” Virgil said, with a fake confidence that he only had in his knowledge.

The other considered this before moving over. He glanced at the mushrooms, knowing exactly what type they were before looking at the human. Virgil nodded as he carefully maneuvered the fungi, double-checking what he had observed earlier.

“There are roughly four kinds of fungi here. These two are an invasive species that appear to be losing the battle for water, so they are less interesting for this partial study. My assumption is that a bird or another animal accidentally transported these here from their normal habitats. They are not remotely endangered, so I am content to let nature do what it will with them. These salmon pink ones are called marasius oreades or the Scotch bonnet. They are relatively safe and edible. These are traditionally arranged in a large circle and are the most commonly associated mushroom with the fairy circle folklore. On the other hand, these ones here are clitocybe rivulosa, or fool’s funnel, which are poisonous due to having deadly levels of muscarine.”

The other man sat there listening as Virgil went on one of his normal plant tangents, finding it easy to do so with the curious but intent look in the other’s eyes. _Oh yes, Remy is going to lose it when he finds out later._ Virgil found himself talking about the various mushrooms, one plant he really hasn’t been interested in before, while the man beside him began to ask different questions.

Neither was aware of the sun slowly setting until it became a bit too dark. If there’d been more light, the other would have noticed the blush on each cheek, but they pretended not to feel the flames on their faces.

“I apologize for taking so much of your time. I had intended to show you the plant I believe you to be looking for, but I became enthralled in your knowledge.” The man commented.

 _Stop being a useless gay mess, Virgil!_ “No, no. I should be the one apologizing. You probably weren’t looking for a long lecture on plants, much less on mushrooms of all things.”

“While I admit that it was not what I had intended on doing today, it was pleasurable listening to your knowledge.” The man paused before deciding on something. “I can tell you that if you come back before sunrise, you will be able to find the plant easily. One of my partners will probably be here as well if you would like to meet him. I am sure he will be thrilled to meet you… uh?”

“Oh… sorry. You can just call me Anx, he/him pronouns. Everyone does.” Virgil answered.

 _There is no way this human already knows who he was dealing with… was there?_ “Well, people refer to me as Logic, though my partners call me Lo.”

“Do you have a preference?”

The man looked over the purple-haired man. “You can call me Lo if you wish.”

“And do you have pronoun preferences? I forgot to ask earlier.”

“I am not particular. He/him work well enough.”

“Well, Lo. It was a pleasure to meet you.” Virgil said, with a small smile.

“Pleasure to meet your acquaintance as well, Anx.”

Virgil went to pick up his bag and turned back to ask if Lo wanted to walk back to town with him. Yet, the man was gone, without a sound to announce his departure. That took Virgil aback, but he did basically say goodbye, so maybe the other took it as his queue to leave. Oh well. Virgil pulled out his phone and saw that he had over two hundred messages, meaning Remy and Dee had really gotten into their fight.


	2. A Sarcastic Thanks for the Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan tells his partners about this strange human he met while Virgil's friends get a good laugh at their anxious gay mess of a friend.

“Logan! Where have you been all afternoon! We missed you!”

The young Fae advisor awkwardly rubbed his neck in front of his two partners. “I was attending a personal lecture.”

“Try again, Specs. We checked all the lectures that were taking place. Plus, you’d have told us about it!”

Logan awkwardly shifted before taking a chance to change the topic. “Did you know that there are fungi similar to the ones that make up the fairy rings that are in fact poisonous to humans?”

“Logan, I am really starting to worry about you.”

Patton wiggled into Logan’s arms. “Come on, LoLo. You know you don’t have to hide things from us, right?”

“Wait a second! I remember this look! You were giving me this look after you met Patty-Cake and caught feelings! Who is he?!?” Princey asked, excitedly.

“What! No!” but the fae’s blushing face showed he was lying.

Patton squealed. “You did! What’s his name? Do we know him?”

Logan looked over his two lovers: his prince and his flower. He knew he wasn’t going to get out of this, so he dragged the two of them back to their set of rooms before collapsing into his armchair, gathering his thoughts on how to tell them. For their part, Pat and Ro were patient, used to giving their partner time to work through his feelings before sharing. Patton’s wings, on the other hand, were flapping excitedly, occasionally picking him up off the ground.

“Alright, but please don’t get mad.” Logan started.

“Logibear, you know we won’t. The three of us are polyam so it’s OK if you like someone else, even if we might not!”

Logan looked at Patton, once again wondering what he’d ever done to be lucky enough to earn the being’s love, before sighing, defeated. “A human was looking for your Ixia while I was getting some reading done.”

The other two glanced at each other in shock. “But you don’t trust humans.”

Logan could only hopelessly shrug. “I don’t, but something about this one… I am not sure. Did you know that humans could have two different colored eyes? This one had a bright green and a purple one! He also had purple hair! I haven’t heard of humans having those colors!”

Patton giggled. “Sounds like our LoLo is very smitten with this one, RoRo.”

Roman chuckled as well. “Well, we were discussing finding ourselves a witch. Being fair though, I had assumed it would be you or me who found a human.”

Logan muttered into his hands. “You two should have heard him! He knows so much about plants and nature. He was so nervous at first, probably suffered from extreme anxiety, but he is infinitesimally intelligent.”

“Uh, Lo? You know infinitesimal means really small, right?” Pat asked.

Logan looked shocked as Roman started laughing. “Guess our Nerd is so smitten that he’s gone dumb! We must meet this human of yours, Lo. Did you get his name? Make any deal whatsoever with him?”

“No.”

That shut Roman up, shocked. “What?”

“I didn’t do any of that. He did give me a name, but I am convinced that it was merely a nickname: Anx. I also cannot make myself create a deal with him. I don’t know, it just doesn’t feel right. I know it would have been fairly simple to get him to agree to one, not after _that_.”

“After what?” Pat asked curiously.

The advisor went even more red as he barely audibly said “he said that I was ‘hot, kind, and cared for plants.’ It feels wrong to consider forcing him into a fae deal.”

“Well, he sounds amazing! I would love to meet him!” Patton said, happily.

Logan paused before answering. “I forgot… I told him that he could find your Ixia if he showed at sunrise and you would probably be there, Pat.”

Roman rolled his eyes at the love-struck fairy. “Logan might as well have taken a love potion, Pat.”

Patton giggled. “Well, I will happily meet him in the morning then, LoLo!”

“Wait, why was he looking for Pat’s Ixia?” Roman asked.

Logan sunk lower. “He is a botanist who studies and protects endangered plants. One of his friends told him about it and he was looking for it as it is endangered and he wants to protect it.”

“Oh great, another nerd.”

Patton giggled. “That’s perfect though, RoRo! Just from the sound of it, this human is smart, loves plants, and has our beloved Logan around his finger. Now, help me pick out something to wear! I want to make a good impression on this human for LoLo’s sake!”

****

“So you are telling me that some random guy managed to distract you from your life’s passion of ignoring people and enjoying the company of silent plants?” Remy laughed.

Virgil was bright red as he mumbled into the table. The group of friends were at their favorite diner, listening to the anxious man’s very detailed story of his afternoon. Virgil was the only single man in their group and they were _thrilled_ that the secluded crypted finally found someone he at least was crushing on.

“Now Remy, don’t be mean to VeeVee!” Emile commented.

“Come on, Em. Anx spent what? Two? Three? Hours yabbering about mushrooms to some stranger. He’s already a love-struck puppy!” Dee answered.

Virgil shifted just enough so the others could hear him add. “He mentioned he has partners. Like does that mean his like polyam? What if he was just being nice? God, I was just a gay mess that he had to put up with, wasn’t I?”

The friends glanced between each other, used to Virgil’s anxiety over things like this. Of course, that was when they noticed the group’s stinky trash rat chomping down on a sock, which Dee was almost positive was not Remus’ sock. The distraction was a welcoming blessing for Virgil who pushed the handsome man from his mind as they tried to get the sock from Remus, who was worse than a dog chewing on something he should have been.

Once that was dealt with, Emile glanced at Virgil. “So, are you planning on going in the morning? Meeting this mysterious Lo’s partner?”

“I don’t know. It feels sketchy but also like I kind of also want to go.”

“Virgil, I’ll put the Sass Master aside for a moment to ask this: could you live the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you had gone? If it is a worry about something bad happening, we can work around it: someone going with you, talking with you every step and requiring updates, whatever. Is this something you can stand by and watch pass by without a regret?”

“You’ve been too good a role model for them, Em,” Virgil muttered.

“Then it is decided,” Dee stated. “Tomorrow, Virgil will meet this Lo’s partner. Now, you should go and find something in this cryptid’s closet that doesn’t scream vampire, Remy.”

“It will be easier to drag him on a shopping trip,” Remy said, with their lips curling into that smile that bode bad news for Virgil.

“Hey, wait, no, bad rat man! And there goes his napkin. Dee, you need to do better in training your pet–I mean partner. Partner, Emile! I promise that was what I–ow, bad rat man!”


	3. Blooming in the Sunrise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton's turn to meet this mysterious human that caught Logan's interest

Patton sat at the base of the sequoia, watching the sky become lighter. This was his favorite part of the day. Birds happily chirped to one another, the early morning dew made the grass almost sparkle, and even the sky turned magnificent colors. Of course, Patton wasn’t paying too much attention to it today. He was picking at the bottom of his dress.

It was his favorite dress by far: it stopped at his knees and when he wiggled, the dress would move with him. It was a pretty shade of blue. It had been the dress he wore when he had met Logan, and eventually Roman. His wings were hidden away with just a dash of magic so that anyone looking at the young fairy wouldn’t know that he wasn’t human. Even Patton’s giant circle glasses had received special care for this meeting: a nice polishing and deep cleaning from a flustered Logan.

He wanted to make a good impression on this human, not just for himself but for LoLo. He loved meeting people, but Logan had fallen hard for this human, so Pat wanted to make sure that he didn’t mess with that for the socially-awkward scholar. Pat smiled, thinking about how Logan had gushed about this intelligent boy. At least until a voice cut through the calm morning.

_“Remy, I swear! I’m not dropping however much on some shirt I’d wear only once when I could use that money on expanding the greenhouse. Yes, I am aware... No, I do not care about your hurt fashionista ego. I am not contributing to your caffeine addiction either, Remy. I got to go... No, I don’t see anyone… I’m done listening to you whine, that’s why! Talk to you later.”_

Virgil groaned as he turned his phone onto vibrate. It was too early in the morning for Remy to be griping about his wardrobe. He sighed as he looked around. Patton was very aware of the human but remained hidden on the other side of the giant tree, suddenly nervous to meet him. Virgil became focused on the tree though.

“Oh no, I didn’t see that yesterday.” He said softly to the tree, moving over. “Of course, I didn’t see much other than… Whatever, that’s not important to you, huh, big guy? Let’s get rid of some of those dead bark scraps so you can heal properly.”

Other than some scraping sounds, it was fairly quiet. Virgil started to hum, finding the silence to be a bit unnerving. Patton found himself falling for this unseen human already and quickly realized just how badly Logan had fallen for him as well. Patton was almost terrified to show himself now, for fear of the other not liking him.

“There we go. You should heal a lot faster now, old guy. I may even have some yummy fertilizer for you. Let me see.”

Patton’s heart was a mess. _Of course, this being has some fertilizer for some random tree!_

“Oh, um… Hello?” the voice pierced Patton’s thoughts.

Both look over each other and realized that they were screwed. Patton realized just how accurate Logan had been; Patton’s heart was thundering as his eyes took in this _very_ attractive human. On the other hand, Virgil was wondering just how many more hot men were going to randomly appear on this random hill and why is this was his life and whether this was all some elaborate plan by Remy and/or Dee.

“Sorry! I was lost in thought! You must be Anx! LoLo told me about you! I’m Pat, he/him!” Patton jumped to his feet, excitedly.

“Uh… Yeah… Nice to meet you, Pat.”

Pat hummed cheerfully as he moved a bit out of Virgil’s way. He caught the silent message and continued to sprinkle the fertilizer around the giant tree. He knew it wasn’t much for such a huge tree, but it would be a little bit of help, at least. Yet, his thoughts were running, wondering how much this hot stranger had heard him say. He was used to speaking to plants, but most people thought it was odd.

“I can hear your thoughts from here and that makes it official. I am now adopting you and will physically fight you if I hear one more negative thought from that head of yours.” Patton stated, arms folded and a small pout on his face.

Virgil couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him. “You sound like one of my friends, Emile.”

“If I sound like one of your friends, then you must be used to it and so I will go full-on dad mode and fight you for thinking badly about my child!”

“I wish you luck with that, Pat.”

Patton could still feel the negative thoughts coming from the human. All he wanted to do was to yank the guy into a tight hug, wrap him up in his wings and cuddle the anxious bean until the thoughts were gone. Yet, Patton couldn’t do that as Logan had told him that he had made no indication that this poor human had walked straight into a fairy circle and was dealing with actual fairies.

What he could do was distract him, though. “Lo told me that you were looking for a plant! Do you know what kind it was? There isn’t all that much to look at up here.”

“Oh… right…” _this man is going to be the end of him._ “One of my other friends told me that they saw a purple flowering plant up here.”

Patton hummed as he plopped himself on the ground in front of the grass. “Come, watch!”

Virgil’s brain didn’t even think about questioning the request. He sat down on the ground right next to Patton. The fairy fought to keep a squeal in as he pointed at the patch of grass they were sitting in front of. Virgil carefully leaned in and looked over the plant, as Patton looked over the human.

Almost as if the sun were waiting for Virgil to stare at what appeared to be grass, the first tendrils of sun escaped over the horizon. Patton’s heart may have skipped a beat seeing a couple early beams of light touching this mysterious human’s face, but he wasn’t about to let that worry him as Virgil’s mismatched eyes went wide. Before their eyes, the strands of grass bloomed into beautiful purple flowers.

Patton could hear the human muttering. “What is that, kiddo?”

Virgil jumped before relaxing. “Oh, sorry. Wait, kiddo? I’m not a kid?”

Patton couldn’t help but giggle. “You’ve already forgotten that you’ve been adopted? What were you saying?”

“Oh…” Virgil went bright red. “It’s just some things I’d like to note about the plant later in my journal.”

“Ohhhh… Like what?” Patton asked curiously.

“Just things like this plant having Photonasty movement, height, things like that. Bartram’s Ixia is fairly rare; it’s in fact listed as an endangered plant species… but you probably aren’t interested in hearing about the specifics. I’m just a weirdo who enjoys studying plants.”

“Hey, kiddo, what did I say about that negative thinking?”

“Uh…”

“That I will physically fight you for thinking badly about my child!” Patton giggled. “I know I am not as intelligent as LoLo, but I do love learning and I also love plants. I’ve been watching over this little plant since its first bloom here. I’d love to hear specifics about it! LoLo said you were an incredible teacher when you taught him about those cool mushrooms over there!”

Virgil went bright red hearing that but decided to focus on the fact that _didn’t_ send his poor gay heart into a frenzy. “You’ve been watching over these flowers?”

“Yup.” Patton popped the ‘p’ proudly. “They bloomed a couple of weeks ago for the first time and when I asked Lo about them, he did some research and found out that they are dying out, so I’ve kept an eye on them!”

“Oh…” Virgil shifted awkwardly, before suddenly asking. “Since you’ve been watching them, I guess I should ask you if I could study them then?”

Patton blinked, before smiling at him. “Of course, you can, silly! Anyone who wants to protect pretty flowers should be able to study them! Lo said you wanted to take them to someplace where you could keep them out of danger.”

“Well, that would take a little bit of time as I would have to have clearance from the government first. Stuff about ensuring that I have the facilities to properly care for them, no ill intent in tending to them, that sort of thing. If you would rather me not start that process, I totally understand. You’ve been watching over them so it would be wrong of me to do something that you wouldn’t like.”

Patton knew it was a bold move, what with the human panicking and them being strangers, but he reached out and gently pulled the man into a hug. Virgil was shocked but something about the hug felt _right_. Almost like home in a single person. Patton ran his hand up and down the human’s back, waiting for him to calm down.

“I… uh… Sorry.” Virgil finally said, sitting back.

“Nothing to be sorry about, kiddo! Sometimes everyone just needs a nice hug!” Pat answered. “Now, if you wanted to study the Ixia, you might want to get started! They tend to close up before lunchtime. And while you study them, you should tell me a bunch of cool facts! This way I can go and show LoLo that I can learn things!”

Virgil knit his eyebrows at this as he went to grab his bag. “Does Lo think you aren’t smart?”

“No, he says that RoRo and I have our own intelligence, but Lo is absolutely brilliant! It’s sometimes hard not to think you aren’t that smart when talking with him. He has his heart in the right place though, so it’s OK.”

“RoRo?”

“Oh, Ro is Lo and my third partner! He’s very interested in meeting you, Anx! LoLo was super excited telling us about your discussion yesterday and anyone who can make our precious nerd chatter like that has to be incredible! I should probably warn you though, RoRo can be a bit _much_. He’s passionate about things he cares about and that tends to be shown in loud bursts of love. One time, Lo was upset about something, I don’t even remember what it was anymore, but Ro’s idea of making things better was publicly trying to fight whatever it… OH! Right! Lo was furious at something he’d read! Ro was shouting in the square for the person who hurt his love to step forward. Lo finally threw the book that angered him at Ro and Ro promptly burned the book.”

Virgil chuckled, which Patton decided he needed to hear at least three more times in the next ten minutes alone. “Great, you three are starting to really sound like my group of friends. Dee has dressed up in some fancy lord costume before just to be able to dramatically pull his glove off and swat me with it for suggesting we get tacos over hamburgers.”

The two of them continued to talk and joke as Virgil gathered physical properties abut the flower. He showed Patton some things that he said he would tell Lo. Patton pulled the stops out of his dad joke and pun repertoire, thrilled to hear more laughs from this man. Not that the other would know, but Patton and Virgil were falling deep for each other. Virgil had the unfortunate ache in his heart knowing that the two men probably weren’t interested in adding someone into what sounded like an already extra group of people.

“Shit…”

“Language!”

“English.”

“Anx!”

Virgil laughed before moving. “I accidentally caught you in the picture.”

“Let me see!”

Virgil turned his camera to the excited man. Patton saw his silly self peeking out from behind the flowers. It was a nice picture of him, but that wasn’t what his eyes decided to focus on. He was shocked to see just how _in love_ he looked while talking with this human. It was the look Roman’s dad insisted showed that how he felt towards Logan and Roman was different from other beings. Obviously, Virgil had to have noticed and now obviously thinks Pat strange.

“Hey, if I’m not allowed to think negatively, neither are you,” Virgil said. “I can easily delete it. No proof of whatever caught your worry.”

Before Patton could come up with anything, Virgil pressed a couple of buttons and showed him a message saying ‘item deleted’. “See, no issue. Sorry for getting ya.”

“It’s no problem, and I didn’t have an issue with having my picture taken,” Patton answered quickly. “It was just a passing thought. Hard to not pause when you notice something about yourself that you wish you were a bit better at hiding.”

That caused the man to pause before quietly saying, with his eyes looking away. “I don’t think you have anything you should hide, Pat.”

This time, Patton couldn’t help but squeal and yank his new friend into a tight hug. Virgil just laughed as he accepted his fate.


	4. Friends are the WORST (Not Really)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil recounts the day with his friends and the group have The (Remus) Talk with a new restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter tw: Remus (sympathetic) and discussion of a brain injury
> 
> Please stay safe Fanders!

_[Trenta4Sandman]: yo, anx, where u @? Food time! [sent at 2008]_

_[Anx’sWitch]: sorry, running late [sent at 2013]_

Remy scowled at their phone. “Late? Gurl better have a good explanation.”

“Rich coming from _you_ ,” Dee stated, stretching out on the bench. “The only reason you are on time, for once, is because Anx should have some good flirting stories to share today.”

“We are talking about the same anxious boy, right? The one who, even after all these years, still shows up half an hour early to everything? Especially when we’re hitting a new joint and have to give the manager and everyone else the spiel of the rat-man?”

“Oh, how clever of a nickname.” Dee drawled.

“Mmmmhhh, I like it!” A nasal voice said from behind them.

“What, run out of dogs to sniff?”

_Bzzt._

Remy immediately unlocked their phone, Dee scooting closer, though both were mildly disappointed to see it was only Emile.

_[What’supDoc]: running late as well! [sent at 2017]_

_[What’supDoc]: also, have you seen where stitch went? He’s missing : ( [sent at 2018]_

“Rat man, did you eat Emile’s Stitch?”

Remus hummed before answering. “Only if ‘e got in stuffed into a sausage!”

_[Trenta4Sandman]: No and the rat didn’t eat it either [sent at 2020]_

“I hate that confirming if Remus ate something or not is a valid concern when stuff goes missing.”

“Oh gurl, you late. Where you been?” Remy answered jumping to their feet.

Virgil pocketed his phone. “Screaming about the injustice of the world into my pillow. Ready to deal with _The Talk_?”

“Might as well.” “Let’s get it over with.”

The four of them entered the restaurant. Thankfully, the hostess knew them and also knew that _The Talk_ had to happen, so she led them to the owner’s office. The poor woman looked frazzled but welcomed them regardless.

“Was something wrong with your service?” she asked.

“No, no. We haven’t eaten yet.” Dee answered promptly. “My friends and I prefer to discuss this man’s actions before we dine at a new place. This is Remus and he has had a significant head trauma that causes him to act… inappropriately at times.”

“Hey, hey Dee. What deodorant should I taste next?” Remus suddenly asked.

Dee shut his eyes for a moment before answering. “Whatever one I hand you, rather than snatching the one I use.”

“Can it be a brown one?”

“Sure, I’ll look for one,” Dee stated, looking tired before looking back at the very confused owner. “As I was saying, we keep him under constant watch, but I also provide all my information, in case he escapes. If he escapes and causes havoc, please feel free to call me and I will pay for whatever damage or whatever else needed that he caused. I know this sounds horrible, but your hostess has dealt with us, and particularly him, before, so can assure you of what I’m saying. If he is causing issues, we tend to pay and leave before he gets out of hand, but we also will do so if you ask, as we know he is a bit difficult to handle.”

 _Tap tap._ “Sorry, just letting you lot know that Emile has arrived and I’ve sat him in a corner. Rat man’s normal puzzle is set up as well.”

“Tiffany, you are incredible. Come along, sticky trash rat.” Remy said, dragging a musing Remus after them and the hostess.

Dee pulled out an envelope for her. “Here is my information. I include his injury disclosure as too many people have argued that it isn’t an injury. I am his primary contact, but I have also listed Emile Picani and Virgil here as additional contacts. I have also included a cashier’s check to help with your restaurant as an early ‘thank you for dealing with us’ token.”

She looked shocked as she accepted the envelope. “May I ask a question?”

“Sure, go for it.”

“Does that man seriously eat deodorant?”

“Anything he can put into his mouth, he will try to eat. He enjoys being known as a rat, but it’s more like an untrained dog. We have convinced him not to eat most things unless we give it to him. For the deodorant, Virgil makes a fake fondue one that we give him.”

“Random household spices mixed in really convince him that it is real deodorant. Better than the store-bought he sneaks, according to Dee here.” Virgil answered, grinning. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but most prefer the warning. He’s a headache to deal with, but we know how to handle him.”

“May I ask who you are to him?” she asked.

Dee shrugged. “I’m his husband of seven years. And before you ask, no he hasn’t always been like this. I got this scar that you’ve been eyeing, in the same car crash that caused his injury. Virgil and Emile are just good friends who for some reason put up with us.”

She nodded uncertainly. “Alright, then. Thank you for letting me know.”

“And I am serious about telling me of whatever damage he causes. I will pay for whatever no matter what it costs. Now, we’ll get out of your hair.”

Dee led Virgil out of the office. He let out a sigh as Virgil dragged him to the table with the other three. He slumped into his seat next to Remus, who was struggling to solve whatever puzzle the hostess gave him this time. He knew that conversation would never become easier, but at least he had his friends who would stand with him as he gave it.

“Gurl, stop pouting. We’ve got Anx’s day to discuss.”

“There’s nothing to discuss.” Virgil’s face went bright red, showing the obvious lie.

“At least tell us why you were screaming about injustice into your pillow,” Dee said, deciding that mocking one of his friends was a better use of his time.

Emile gave the red-faced man a look. “Virgil, what have we discussed about exaggerating in such a way?”

Virgil’s head plopped onto the table as he muttered out “It wasn’t an exaggeration. I had to chug some tea to soothe my throat, which led to me being late.”

“Guuuurl, you need to tell us the gossip!”

“Ohhhh did you have a sinful morning Virgie?” Remus asked.

“Noooooooooo”

It took the group until their dinner orders were taken before Virgil budged and started to spill everything. He gushed about how adorable and kind the new guy was. He told them about all the jokes, stories, and fun they had. Remy was pleased to hear that Virgil did get a chance to look at the flower but honestly, they were more for the deets on their best friend’s crush.

Of course, with Virgil, the did finally reach the point where his insecurity hit the fan. “If this Ro guy is anything like Pat and Lo, they are all like perfect! I know that if they asked, I wouldn’t hesitate to join their relationship, but why would they want some anxious mess like me? I operate my own massive greenhouse so that I don’t have to deal with more people than I have to. Plants don’t judge and they can’t tell me that they hate me and want me to go away. I should just stay with my plants and stop trying for a relationship. Yeah, that sounds like a plan.”

“Uh, no? That like doesn’t sound like a plan?” Remy stated.

“Why not? I can become a vegetarian. Have fertilizer and whatever else I need for my plants just delivered like normal. It’s a valid plan.”

Remus grabbed Virgil’s hand and licked it. “Because you’d miss us!”

He snorted. “Being fair, you lot forced yourselves into my bubble anyways. I might get some peace and quiet if Remy isn’t banging down my door. Hermit life is sounding better and better.”

“Bitch, shut up. You love us and you know it!”

“Please, you only love three things: Emile, coffee, and sleep. Who says I have to love a narcoleptic coffee addict?”

“Guuuuuuuurl, take that back!”

Dee grinned. “Especially one with such a drab sense of fashion.”

“GURL! I will have you know that my fashion senses are better than yours! Like who even _makes_ that shade of yellow?”

Remy, Dee, and Virgil started to really get into their normal banter. Emile couldn’t help the smile as he twirled his tea. Despite his best efforts of peacekeeping, he knew that some banter was unavoidable. Especially with the clashing personalities of these three. He was happy just to sit back and listen to the three who took over the conversation with their banter. Emile raised his cup and took a sip, wondering how the men Virgil liked would fit into their mismatched group.

_“Well, at least I’m not as controlling as early Pearl was!”_

That jump-started Emile. “Are we discussing my favorite Crystal Gems!?!”

The three of them went quiet before Remus announced. “Sugilite is my favorite!”

Virgil just burst into a fit of laughter. Next to fall was Dee and then Remy. Emile jumped on the chance to stop the banter and so started doing his normal cartoon thing, which Remus was all too happy to participate in. Remus and Emile started a quote war, trying to out reference the show as the other three struggled to breathe through their laughter. Then it turned to minor details that everyone had noticed and what they might mean.

“Food!” Remus screeched.

“Yes, rat-man. We can see.” Virgil said, patting Remus’ shoulder.

It took some time getting the food to the right person, and once the server left, ensuring everyone had a couple bites from each of the plates. Virgil grinned at the sampling plate that had been a hamburger and onion rings. Now there was some meatloaf, steak, pasta, and a chicken tender along with a mix of sides. The five of them dig into their plates, commenting on what they liked and what they didn’t. Remus, as usual, loved everything, so happily accepted what the others didn’t want.

“So, what are you going to do about your cute guy situation, Anx?” Dee asked, eventually.

“I already told you: become a hermit and have everything shipped to me.”

“Seriously, Anxie.” Emile said.

Remy stabbed a piece of broccoli and pointed it at the purple-haired one. “Gurl, keep this up and I will set the date up, myself.”

“Oh nooo, save me the pain,” Virgil answered. “And I don’t know. Pat and I got along really well today and like he’s super sweet. Lo was more cool and intelligent, but from what Pat said, he liked my rant on fungi. I still haven’t met Ro, and I’m not sure if I will. Pat said he was extremely busy most days, which adds to his need to show his affection in extremely loud ways.”

“VeeVee’s got it baaaaaaad!” Remus announced as he shoved a napkin into his mouth.

Remy flicked some of his water at the rat-man. “Drop it. Drooooooop. Good boy.”

“Remus is right, you do have it bad, Virgil,” Emile said. “Maybe you should say something to them. Or at least extend a hand of friendship towards Lo and Pat.”

Virgil buried his head into his arms before answering. “I am meeting Lo tomorrow afternoon, so I’m already a step ahead of you.”

“You do know that we love you and fully support you, right?” Remy asked, not even waiting for a response before continuing. “That being said, I am so going to enjoy teasing you about this.”


	5. You Can Meet the Cute Guy After You Finish Your Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman wants to hear about Pat's day. Thomas, Joan, and Talyn have a bet on the useless gay fairies.

The moment Roman saw Patton, he ran over, picked the man off his feet and twirled him. Patton was startled for a second before falling into a fit of giggles. He wrapped his arms around Roman and yanked him into a kiss. Roman kissed back before setting the fairy back onto his feet. He then turned and knelt before Logan, who had watched Patton get swept up. He grabbed the nerd’s hand and gently kissed it with a soft ‘mi amor!’.

“Thank you for not man-handling me,” Logan stated.

Roman laughed as he stood up. “Really limiting my love here, specs.”

Without missing a beat, Logan raised Roman’s hand to his lips. “Oh but that means a more creative show of love, isn’t that right, my prince?”

To that, Roman was at a loss for words as Logan kissed his hand. When he let go, Roman realized something had been placed into his hand. He turned it over and saw a beautiful necklace with a red shield pendant. On the shield, there was a castle etched in bright gold. If Roman had been at a loss for words seconds before, he wasn’t sure he’d ever find his voice again after seeing such a beautiful gift.

“Isn’t it pretty, RoRo! He made me a blue and silver heart with my glasses! Lo also made himself one, knowing we wouldn’t let him get away without having one as well and it’s a little brain with his glasses!” Patton squealed.

Logan adjusted his glasses. “I did my best to symbolize one of our best traits, each. Patton has a large heart so a heart for our heart. You are…”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m the prince, so a castle,” Roman said, a little hurt at that being the thing Logan picked for him.

“On the contrary, that is not true. I picked a castle for your imagination and creativity. Children will pretend to be a prince or princess going upon grand adventures. I attempted to emulate the childish sense of imagination in its design. I decided against a crown for that idea as the castle could take a more imaginative appearance.”

Listening to what Logan was saying, Roman was able to see where the nerd was coming from. It wasn’t a perfect and sleek design. It had little wiggly lines from the sun, two rows of waves, and in the background were uneven mountains. It was far from the quality Logan would have made for a real trinket about the crowned prince. Honestly, Roman had half a mind to ask if he had Patton draw the parts and use that as the design base.

“But not only are you creative, you are loyal, strong, and a defender to your people. You look at a problem and find a solution that most do not see because you see the world in your own, special way.” He continued, now going a bit pink, worrying about whether Roman truly believed he only considered his royal status as his greatest quality.

Roman yanked the babbling nerd into a kiss. “I love it, thank you.”

Logan’s wings fluttered, showing Roman that he was flustered, which made the fairy happy to see. He held the necklace out to Logan. The man rolled his eyes but understood as he accepted it. Roman turned and let the scholar put the necklace on him.

“So, what were my two favorite partners discussing before I appeared?” Roman asked.

“I asked LoLo about his day and he had finished putting my necklace on,” Patton answered, linking arms with his partners.

“We were waiting for you to leave your meeting to head to dinner together.” Logan rolled his eyes at being pulled along.

“So I haven’t missed any of Patty-Cake’s day then?”

“Nope, saving it all for later! Now come along! Thomas is probably wondering where the three of us are by now.”

He dragged them to the dining hall where, at the end of the long table, three others already sat, discussing something. At the head was a man who looked like an older version of Roman. He immediately looked up and smiled at the three entering. The two to each side of his noticed and looked over as well.

“There you guys are!”

As usual, Logan gave a bow and Patton gave a curtsy with soft “your majesty”. Roman nodded to his father as he slumped into his seat. There wasn’t must chatter as the three of them piled their plates with food. Thomas just watched the three of them, noticing the small necklaces, ones that Logan has been working on for a while, on them.

“Anything interesting going on, you three?” he asked, glanced down at the paperwork Joan, Talyn, and he had been discussing.

There was a pause that made him look at his son and partners. “Oh, there is something interesting.”

Logan and Patton instantly went pink and Roman awkwardly shifted in his seat. Thomas had seen Roman and Logan like this before and so it was just a book full of déjà vu to hit him. The grin that split his face wouldn’t have even broken a sweat escaping Thomas’s attempts at keeping it hidden.

“Oh, I see. What’s his name?”

“Uh, well…” Logan started, awkwardly.

Thomas instantly picked up on the awkwardness. “What’s the matter? Wait, did I just assume that it was a guy and that this being is non-binary or a lady?”

“Nope, not going in that discussion. Definitely a guy.” Roman answered, promptly.

“Then, what’s the matter?”

Patton shifted before answering. “He’s a human.”

“Oh, cool. You three looking to having a witch.” Thomas answered. “So, what’s his name?”

“Not entirely sure, and we haven’t exactly discussed that far with him. I am not entirely sure he is aware of the existence of the fae or all that. However, he did only give us a nickname to call him: Anx.” Logan said.

“Wait! Who found the human? This is important.” Joan asked.

The three partners glanced at each other, quietly asking each other why that would be important before Logan cleared his throat. “I was reading and he entered the circle, looking for a certain plant.”

“PAY UP SUCKERS!” Talyn shouted.

Thomas pretended to be upset. “Patton, how could you do this to me! All of us have to keep you from adopting every animal you find and the one time I make a bet on that assumption, you fail me!”

“DAD!”

“You have no room either, Ro! What good is being the prince if you don’t romance yourself into having a witch!”

“JOAN!”

Thomas and Joan were laughing though as they handed over some money to Talyn, who had Logan locked in a headlock. He was bright red, but let the being have their fun. Patton looked like a lost puppy while Roman was screeching at his father about not picking his own son. The small handful of beings also in the hall were grinning, used to the dramatics of their king and prince.

“Alright, Ro. You can stop screeching. It was a thought-out decision. You’re busy with your duties so I didn’t see you taking extra time out to wander around the circles. I also figured that Logan would ignore any human near him so Patty was the best decision!” Thomas laughed.

“Sorry to disappoint you, King Thomas.” Patton giggled.

“Nope, don’t be sorry. I made bank on this bet.” Talyn laughed as they pocketed the money.

“Good for you, but can you please release my neck?” Logan asked.

Talyn hummed as if thinking about it, but they did let him go. “So, what all do you know about this Anx of yours?”

“Not much, I am afraid. I only met him yesterday, and Patton today.” Logan answered.

“His favorite color is purple! While he prefers cats, particularly black ones he insisted on calling ‘voids’, his favorite dog is a pitbull! He had a friend who had one and apparently the puppy insisted on dressing up in PJs and being tucked into bed for the night and so will fight people who say that pit bulls are only meanies. He also…” Patton started excitedly.

“OK, if you’re going to just dump that on us, you can tell us what you all did today now!” Roman cut him off. “I’m excited to hear what you have to say as Lo was practically a love-struck pup.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow at his son. “You still haven’t met this boy?”

“With what time? As Logan said, he met this guy yesterday. This guy has won my two partners over with only a single conversation, so obviously, there is something interesting about him.”

“I sense another bet we can discuss later.” Talyn hummed, cheerfully.

“Well go on, Pat!” Joan said. “Let’s hear about this mystery guy.”

Patton needed no further encouragement. He left nothing about, even the private thoughts of doubt and insecurity were told. He paused after telling them about the fertilizer just to squeal about it and how sweet that was before continuing. Pat couldn’t help but list out every single detail about this mysterious man that he had learned about today. He couldn’t remember how conversations about some of them–like the most interesting place Anx had been to was some hidden lagoon that his friend Remy stumbled upon– but he wasn’t going to forget what the purple-haired man had told him. Soon, he found himself just gushing over how sweet and cute the guy was, much to the amusement of the beings listening.

For their part, the others were listening, happy to hear every detail. Roman listened with such rapt attention, you’d have thought he were memorizing a wedding vow or something. Logan took mental notes about the details Patton had gained about this new being that had stolen his heart. For their part, Thomas, Joan, and Talyn listened and enjoyed the love story they were watching unfold.

Joan did notice something about the human they were discussing. “Are you lot sure that this guy doesn’t already have some pact with a fairy? Like humans aren’t usually _that_ into plants and several of those other things you mentioned just don’t exactly add up.”

Logan adjusted his glasses, “I am fairly certain that he does not know of our existence, Joan. He did discuss the circle with me and used specific language that indicates something that is falsified or merely stories.”

“I agree with LoLo. This one seems a bit more of a science human, so I think it’s unlikely.” Patton said.

“We can always gear the conversation towards that topic, just to be sure as well,” Logan commented.

“Oh, I forgot to mention, I told him you’d probably be there tomorrow, as I know that’s your favorite afternoon reading spot. I hope that’s OK.” Patton said.

Logan automatically fixed his glasses, “I take no offense to this. He is good company.”

Roman pouted. “When is it going to be my turn to meet this mysterious guy who has stolen my partners from me!”

“Once you finish up the trade deal with the river sprites,” Thomas answered, promptly.

“But that’s going to take 5ever!”

“Once you finish the trade deal with the river sprites.” Talyn and Joan said in unison.

“Lo! Paaaaat!”

The two glanced at each other before repeating with Thomas had said, much to Roman’s dismay, though he understood where everyone was coming from. It was supposed to be done in the next couple of days, but Roman was bad at doing his boring paperwork stuff. At least every realm knew that the prince was just bad at doing stuff at an acceptable pace. Being fair, they attributed it to his youth and believed that he would eventually grow out of it and also knew that King Thomas didn’t let his son handle any of the important things just yet.

“I’m sorry, RoRo! We can go have a cuddle fest to make it up to you!” Patton said, sensing Roman’s disappointment.

Roman perked at this but also pushed out a fake pouty face. “With your special cookies?”

Patton giggled. “Of course with my special cookies! We can watch a movie and then listen to LoLo explain why the movie was inaccurate!”

“Thomas, no.” Talyn suddenly said, cutting into the plan-making. “You are the king and you are not pushing your work off until tomorrow just to have a movie-thon.”

“Lo, please don’t turn into Talyn,” Roman said, looking at the fairy who he’d picked to be his own advisor.

Logan looked him straight in the eye before answering. “Suffer, then perish.”

The king and his two friends burst into laughter as Roman put on a betrayed look. The rest of dinner was spent in a comfortable conversation about something Logan and Joan had discovered.

Logan felt a small disappointment in his partner’s reactions to what he’d learned. If only Anx were here, he would… Logan quickly shut that thought down. No point in wishing for something he didn’t have.

Of course, Patton had plenty of jokes to make the table groan. Hearing only groans made his heart long for Anx’s little snorts, but he brushed it aside. He knew that groans were the way Logan kept himself from laughing and Roman was still pouting about having to work. He did gain a huge smile as Thomas cracked one or two, and that helped a little.

Once dinner was finished, Roman was swept off to complete some more work. Logan and Patton took the opportunity to prepare their set of rooms for a nice night in. A giant blanket fort, several trays of cookies, and too many puns for Logan’s liking later, Roman walked into the room. He looked around and suddenly fell in love with his partners once again.


	6. He's Cute but Oblivious!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is oblivious and Logan wants to correct some video.

“So this idiot, he goes and announces to the entire coffee shop that the corporate coffee place across the street was giving away free coffee. Everyone who didn’t have their orders placed yet storms the other shop and he places our entire coffee order to a shocked barista. In and out within five minutes.” Virgil was barely able to finish the story as he was laughing so hard.

“That’s a little mean of Dee, though. Weren’t all those people furious?” Patton asked.

“Why do you think I called him an idiot several times throughout that story? I didn’t find out about this until someone spotted our group hanging out and screamed ‘you!’ and Dee booked it out of the park. The rest of us didn’t know what the person was going on about, so I think they ended up thinking that they singled out the wrong person, but it was something Dee would do, so we weren’t really surprised when Dee told us about it later.”

Patton giggled as he laid back against the ground. He hadn’t expected Anx to show up this morning, but he had and they’d been talking all morning. There was something about him that made it so easy to talk to him. It was almost the perfect balance to Lo and Ro. Honestly, Patton wasn’t sure if he could feel as complete without this strange human in his life anymore. He just provided something, not even something Patton could put a finger on, that his other two partners couldn’t. Not that he didn’t love Logan or Roman any less, it was just something different with Anx.

“Hey, Anxie, can I ask you a question?”

“If you are about to ask whether we made Dee pay for the coffee incident, no, we didn’t. It’s one of those things that you really can’t do anything about.”

“No, not that, though I feel like there should be something he could do,” Patton answered. “I wanted to ask if we’re friends. I really enjoy hanging out and talking with you but if you don’t want to be friends, I totally understand!”

Virgil picked at the hem of his shirt, thinking. “I don’t know if two hangouts qualify as basic friendship requirements. Plus, why would you want to be friends with me? From the sound of it, you have lots of friends and two amazing partners.”

“Keep talking bad about yourself, I dare you.” Patton tried to give a threatening look to the anxious man.

Looking Patton straight in the eye, Virgil continued. “I’m a scrawny, anxious mess who only has friends because a coffee addict found me under a pile of dirt. People only really know me as the guy who will go into a panic attack if you look at him wrong. I got the nickname Anx for a reason and…”

Patton tackled the self-deprecating boy and wrapped himself tightly around him. “I’m not letting go until you stop talking bad about yourself… or if I’m overstepping some boundary.”

“I thought you were planning on fighting me?” Virgil chuckled.

His arms went tighter. “I am. I’m fighting hate with love. Is it working?”

Virgil paused before laughing. “Yeah, Pat. It’s working.”

They stayed that way for a while. Virgil started giving the ‘this is awkward now’ feeling, so Patton sat up. “You don’t have to be perfect to have friends, you know? Friendship is about enjoying another person’s company. And something just feels right between us. I’m not saying what it is, as I agree that it may be too early to fully decide, but it is enough to base a friendship on.”

Virgil thought about it before slowly nodding. “Alright, we can be friends and see where all this goes.”

In response, there was a sound that made Patton worry there was a dying whale somewhere around.

“HAVE YOU EATEN TODAY!” Pat screeched.

“I don’t do breakfast.”

“You need to go eat lunch!”

“Ugh, but that involves moving and town is too far!”

“You will go eat food, mister!”

In a random burst of courage, Virgil asked. “Would you possibly like to join me?”

Patton looked surprised but thought about it. “Uh, I think that depends on what the time is, kiddo.”

Virgil’s heart was racing as he checked his phone. “It’s about two.”

“TWO!” Patton jumped to his feet. “Oh no! I’m late!”

“Late for what?”

“Work started at one. I’m so sorry to just run off on you. I didn’t realize how much time passed! I could have sworn it was still like eleven or something.” Patton was quickly gathering the few things he had brought with him today. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you later, new bestest friendo!”

Virgil would have sworn he only blinked before Patton was just _gone._ Disappointment filled his poor gay heart as he picked up his bag and started for town. He tried and failed on getting Pat to go on a… well, it wasn’t a date, but friendly outing. Virgil felt the decision to never try that again sink into his stomach.

He did head home to have something to eat. Though, looking through his kitchen, Virgil realized how badly he needed to go grocery shopping soon. He made a face but pulled out a can of Chicken Noodle Soup. As he waited for the microwave to beep, he couldn’t help but mentally whine that it wasn’t as good as Emile’s homemade version and that this was a joke compared to that. Still, he ate it while watching some conspiracy theories on YouTube.

Before he knew it, an hour had passed and he was genuinely considering not going back to the hill. He was twenty minutes deep into some ‘the supernatural walk among us’ sort of video and his butt was comfortably planted on his couch. Between the two (hot) guys and his friends, Virgil hadn’t had much time to himself in almost a week. Plus, he’s gotten about a total of three hours of sleep in the past two days as he wanted to learn more about the Ixia while it was bloomed. Then, as a cherry on top, though he understood it was neither of their faults, Pat had basically shot him down.

 _“LoLo said that you are good company, which is his nerdy way of saying he’s excited to see you again!”_ Pat had said early on in their conversation today.

Virgil set his head on the pillow and let out a scream. _What is this disgusting thing? A conscience? Gross, Pat and Emile are bad influences!_

With that, Virgil found himself marching out of his house and back to that cursed hill. Any irritation fell away as he noticed the guy he’d met only two days ago, sitting underneath the sequoia. Lo was reading a book but currently was mid-fidget, as if expecting something or someone. Logan would never admit it, but he had been so nervous about seeing Anx again. His heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of the purple hair.

“Salutations” Logan greeted, shutting his book.

“Yo,” Virgil answered, pulling a headphone out. “What are you reading there?”

“Sherlock Holmes,” he answered. “What are you listening to?”

“Just conspiracy stuff.”

Logan barely kept the disdain off his face. “Please tell me you aren’t one of the people who believe aliens created the pyramids or Stonehenge.”

“While I do believe there is something out there, I don’t believe some alien took time out of their schedules to build something for us ungrateful humans.” Virgil shrugged. “My friend Emile suggested that I watch them and pick out where the logic leads away from what we know as a mental exercise so that my dumb brain can learn to try and pick out where my thinking goes wrong before an anxiety attack. After watching several, I just found them interesting to think about.”

“Interesting…” Logan said, thinking that idea through. “I believe that to be an unconventional method of addressing cognitive distortions, but it could work.”

“Oh, Emile is an unconventional therapist, usually using cartoons to get people to understand their own issues. He’s incredibly good at it though.”

Logan looked at Virgil’s phone. “Would you show me what this process entails? I am intrigued, but I’ll understand if you’d rather not.”

“Uh… sure?”

Virgil unplugged his headphones. “I’m not sure you want to watch the one I was, as it’s about an hour long, so maybe I could find a shorter video?”

“If that is what you would prefer. I have no time constraints, so I do not mind.”

Virgil raised his eyebrows at the other. “Wouldn’t your partners be concerned if they don’t hear from you after several hours? Pat mentioned that you three live together.”

“Pat and Ro will be working until much later. I typically spend the afternoons and evenings studying or reading.”

“What do all of you do, if you don’t mind me asking. Pat just seemed to vanish earlier, saying that he was running late for work.”

Logan shrugged. “I’m currently a low-level advisor, but eventually be promoted to a senior advisor for an official. Ro does government work but will jump on any and every chance to perform. Pat is a medic.”

Virgil’s eyes went wide. “I hope that he won’t have any issues from being late then.”

“Oh, he won’t. Not that I will ever tell him, and nor should you, but Pat’s boss knows he is incredibly bad at timekeeping. They write him in on the schedule while listing his actual start time as an hour after whatever they schedule his start. If Pat gets there on time, they just allow one of the earlier shifts go home a little early. It works well from what I heard.”

“I feel like there is something legally wrong with that, but I’m nowhere close to being a legal expert to be able to state so.”

“Well, both parties of the agreement are happy with it, even though Pat is unaware of it. He loves his work and it would emotionally hurt him if he lost his job. His boss, while turning a blind eye towards the tardiness, has someone willing to take the harder cases like terrified toddlers without a single thought of arguing. So, this way, Pat gets to continue at his work despite being perpetually late and his boss has Pat’s magic touch with special cases.”

“Oh, I guess that’s OK then? How do you know about this, if Pat doesn’t?”

“Part of my duties are helping the general population with issues, so was the one to suggest the idea. Of course, this was several years before I knew Pat, so advised that they actually fire the late employee, which I’ve long come to regret and understand his boss’s situation better. Now, what was the video you were watching?”

For a moment, Virgil had no clue what he was talking about, before realizing that he had completely blanked on having agreed to show Lo a conspiracy video. “Oh… it’s just a video about the supernatural. Shape-shifters, sandmen, fairies, that sort of thing. I can find a different video if that doesn’t interest you.”

Logan paused for a moment, wondering if this idiot was really that oblivious to who he was talking too. Any lingering consideration that he might already be a fairy’s witch was blown from his mind. “Well, you did mention that the fungi on this hill are referred to as a fairy circle, so might be fitting to watching something about the fae.”

“Fae?”

 _He really doesn’t know._ “The general collective term for fairies, at least the way I understand the term to be used. Fairies are used for speaking directly to or about a small group of fae whereas fae is a collective or non-specific usage. It’s a complex idea.”

“I wouldn’t have thought you interested in fairies, or the fae? That’s going to take a little mental adjustment to use.”

“I blame Ro,” Logan answered, before turning the human’s attention back to the video. “Alright, let’s watch.”

Virgil took a seat next to the man, desperately trying to ignore his poor gay heart. With that, he unlocked his phone and promptly exited out of the video, rather than restarting it. He scowled but opened the message from Remus that contained it.

“Why is that contact named ‘Stinky Trash Rat’?”

“Uh… Long story. Remus enjoys being known as a stinky trash rat. He has a weird personality.” Virgil awkwardly answered before playing the video.

During the video, Logan found himself wanting to scream more than a few times. Some of the facts presented were _just_ off and it was annoying him to no end. He could tell he was just being a perfectionist and, considering what the general human population knew about the fae, the video wasn’t actually incorrect about his beings. That being said, there was one fact listed that drove Logan mad: _the fae are not the souls of dead humans! They are their own beings! How dare they proclaim something so wrong about his people!_

Once the video was finished, the two discussed the ideas. Logan did his best to pretend that the fairy part of the video didn’t exist. If he acknowledged it, he would dive headfirst into several rants about the minor errors that were driving the poor advisor nuts. In turn, Virgil picked up on the other’s irritation about the section, and was gently trying to coax what was wrong out of the man for what felt like hours to Logan, though it wasn't more than a minute. Unfortunately for him, Virgil seemed very capable of coaxing things out of him.

Virgil listened to the rant that exploded from Logan’s being, confused where he was pulling these details from, but not daring to judge the man. He mentally wondered just how much research this guy has completed regarding fairies. It just seemed like a strange topic for this guy. From what he’d seen and what Pat had told him, Lo attempted to stay focused on facts. For a moment, the idea of Lo being a fairy struck Virgil and he struggled to keep the thought off his face, desperately trying not to laugh.

Soon, it was dark and the two went their separate ways. The second Virgil got home, he burst into laughter at the idea of such a proper person walking around with giant wings and casting magic spells. Once he finally got that out of his system, he sat down and threw himself into research about fairies in order to understand the stoic man’s random interest better.

In turn, Logan stalked through the halls, looking for his partners as he tried to rationalize hitting the strange human with a book on Fae history. Logan found Patton and Roman cuddling on their couch and he didn’t even think before announcing “Well, he really doesn’t believe in fairies. Worse news? I’m getting more of these disgusting _feelings_ towards him.”

The two on the bed started laughing as each took turns screeching “Logan’s got a crush! Logan’s got a crush!”


	7. To Duel a Peasant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has a bad day, and it just gets weirder.

Three whole weeks passed with Virgil going to the hill to meet up with either Lo or Pat almost every day. He had gotten to hang with both of them together once or twice, which made him wonder why they would ever spare time out of their days to come to hang out with him. Loathe as he was to admit it, he was feeling better than he had in years from all the walking to and from the hill. Something about exercise, sunlight, and his poor gay heart fantasizing about dates that would never happen rather than his past failures as he tried to fall asleep.

He was starting to feel worn out from all the social interaction though. Normally, when he hit this point, he would just text his friends to ignore him for the day. Sometimes, they, mostly Emile, would insist on at least being able to send him a pizza so that they knew he ate. Yet, the decision to hide from the world was made a lot harder by the presence of Lo and Pat in his life now.

He couldn’t just text them as he hasn’t had the courage to ask for their phone numbers, and they have yet to actually offer. Plus, he loved seeing them. Pat was a pure ball of sunshine: fun, kind, sweet, and a ball of eternally excited energy. Lo reminded Virgil of his old professor, who was the reason he got into the study of plants: passionate, intelligent, but at times, a bit oblivious. He didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to see them, but he needed some alone time.

“It is quite alright, Anx. I understand the desire to have time alone.” Lo said once Virgil had (finally) admitted it to them.

“Yeah! LoLo is the same way. Though, he doesn’t usually give Ro or me warning before vanishing into his study for hours, or even days, on end. Introverts just need some space, though as it is daytime, you might not see much up there right now.”

Virgil snorted as Lo slowly blinked. “Why do you torture me like this, Pat?”

They spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and eating some cookies Pat had brought. Eventually, it was time to head home. Lo and Pat went down one side of the hill as Virgil went down the other. Another thing he still hasn’t had the courage to ask about: where did they live? He wasn’t sure if they lived in the next town over, but that was what he had decided to assume.

So, with less hesitation, Virgil decided that the next day would be a recharging day. He would spend the day in his giant greenhouse, working with his plants. Yet, like with everything in his miserable life, things couldn’t just be _nice_.

He went into his greenhouse to find a giant puddle from one of the hoses for the misters. Searching around, he found a spot where some animal, probably a rat, had chewed through the hose. There were pots on the ground, shattered. A couple of bags of fertilizer had holes, though that was fairly low on Virgil’s work list as fertilizer was everywhere on a good day.

As he worked, more and more issues decided to pop up. None of the stores had the hose he needed, so he would have to hand water an entire row of plants until one of them received one. When he took fresh herbs to the store, he got lectured by some middle-aged woman about his purple hair, and then she had practically spat fire at him when she saw that he had a single purple eye as if it has personally insulted her (she’s a Karen, he decided once the store owner brought his payment out and she turned on the poor owner). On his way home, some yippy dog tried biting him. It was just a bad day.

He cleaned up the shattered pots after he ordered a pizza. He accidentally cut himself on a pot and then, of course, his pizza was messed up. He miserably slumped onto his couch and started to pick off the anchovies, green peppers, and strange mushy thing he wasn’t going to question.

“Well, today sucked.” He said to himself, examining a slice. “Maybe it’s a drastic measures day?”

With that, he picked up his phone and called Emile. _“Do you how do, young avatar?”_

“Hey, Emile. Could I possibly ask a favor?”

There was a pause. _“Of course! What may I do for you, Vee?”_

“Later, could you possibly drop me and my telescope off a little out of town? Maybe like five minutes’ drive? I can give you gas money-“

_“No problem! Any specific time? Would you like a ride back?”_

“7 or 8? Or whatever works for you. And I’ll probably be out all night.”

_“I can ask Remy if they’ll swing by and get you once they finish their shift. Knowing them, you’ll have to endure a coffee run but it’d beat walking back with your space stuff.”_

“That’d be great, thank you.”

_“Any time, VeeVee. See you later!”_

Once Virgil had everything he’d want with him set by the door, he laid down and tried his best for a nap. Today being the kind of day it was, he didn’t get a nap, but at least he tried. There was a knock on the door and he gratefully answered to find Emile standing there. He smiled and started taking things to the beat-up van Emile drove.

Emile knew Virgil was having a bad day; it had to be a bad day for him to be willing to call and ask a favor. He did his best to offer his normal distractions while Virgil collected himself. He finally spilled the events of his day and Emile’s heart hurt for his friend. They arrived at the hill Virgil wanted to stargaze from and quickly set up his stuff.

“Would you like some company?” Emile asked as Virgil peeked through his telescope.

“No, I’ll alright. You’re exhausted, you should go get some sleep. Thank you though. For everything.”

Emile didn’t like that wording, but he also knew Virgil’s warning signs and none of them were showing. “Alright then. Call if you decide you want a ride back sooner than Remy’s shift ends or if you decide you want or need to talk.”

Virgil thanked him again and watched as the figure went down to the van and drove back to town. He sighed and looked out into space. Thousands, billions even, of stars twinkled above him. Each one reminding him that all the bad things that happened to him were minuscule compared to everything taking place out there, beyond his reach. Some Karen shouldn’t weigh his mind down when it didn’t even register with planets and suns forming, supernovas exploding, or even black holes stealing the surrounding light.

Yes, sometimes he just needed to get away and look at the stars. _If only anxiety hadn’t deterred me from an astronomy major in college,_ he thought. Plants were his life, but space snuck into his heart after an astronomy class and has stayed there for the past four years. He shrugged before going back to studying what was visible in the night sky.

_“…always do this, do that!”_

Virgil barely kept himself from screeching in terror at the voice that invaded his thoughts. The voice didn’t seem to notice that they weren’t alone as they just kept on ranting about something. Completely oblivious to Virgil’s attempts to breathe.

_“Why can’t they just accept that I don’t want to be ordered around! I want to run with my own ideas! I don’t want to be stuck playing with negotiations every single day! But noOOo, Logan has to be on my case for them. Roman, stop being ridiculous. Stop being imaginative! Stop wanting to do more than Dad has assigned for me!”_

“Hey, yeah, hate to break into a perfectly good rant, but go somewhere else. I was here first.” Virgil called out.

The person stopped mid-rant before they came from the tree’s other side. Virgil looked over them the best he could and decided that the person had to be drunk or on something. The person was dressed in a prince costume that could have come out of a Disney movie. They had huge red-tinted transparent wings. Virgil would give the person credit on those though as they moved as if they were actually fluttering.

They raised their hand and Virgil could have sworn that their eyes flashed a bright red. “Begone, peasant, or I’ll send you to the stocks and leave you for the dragon witch.”

Virgil blinked before raising an eyebrow at them. “That party must have been lit. My friend’ll be upset they missed it.”

The other looked at their hand in shock before shaking their head. “Get lost, fiend.”

“No, don’t think so. I was here first and I’m all set up to stay all night. You get lost, Princey.”

“PRINCEY!” the person shrieked. “I am Prince Roman, and you will address me as such you peasant!”

“Oh, excuuuse me, Sir Screams A Lot. Now, go find a different hill to scream about your miserable problems. I’ve already claimed this one to deal with my own. Pick one far away though so I don’t have to hear you.”

“Oh, you don’t want to hear me? Well, I guess I just have to rant even louder then! Maybe then you’ll take your peasant hide somewhere else! I might have to bite my tongue before my father’s court, but I will not allow someone like you to steal one of the few times I can get away to rant.”

Then as if the person forgot that Virgil was there, they went straight back into screaming at the world. Virgil bit his tongue and tried to ignore the dude, but he probably would have had an easier time building a rocket and yeeting himself into space. He was tempted to leave, but he had too much equipment for a single trip and there was no way he was leaving anything for this weirdo stranger to steal.

“Hey, Prince Underarm Stink!” He shouted.

In response, a glove hit him in the face. Before he could fully comprehend what this idiot had done, the ranting person sunk a very real and very sharp looking sword into the ground before Virgil. This Roman dude then drew another sword and dropped into some stance. Virgil’s anxiety might as well have been a freight train for how badly it slammed straight into him. He wasn’t even conscious of grabbing the sword as Roman sent a blow straight at him.

Virgil managed to get to his feet and was half a mind to start running for his life as Roman threw another hit at him. After barely missing that blow, Roman muttered angrily and started screeching at Virgil, telling him how to hold the sword, where his feet should be, and whatever else this peasant needed to know to be worth sword fighting. Virgil responded to the instructions, recognizing them for what they were, but also terrified of what would happen if he ignored them.

He wasn’t sure how long they were at it, but Virgil did feel like he was getting the hang of the sword. He also realized at some point that this idiot wasn’t actually trying to hurt him, he was just trying to let out pent up anger. He had half a mind to tell the dude that he should sign up for boxing classes rather than challenging some random person to a duel, in the middle of the night. Virgil’s assumption was proven right when Roman knocked him onto the ground. After pointing the sword at his face, Roman sheathed it and collapsed next to the anxious man.

“It’s been a while since someone stood their ground against me.” Roman finally said.

“You challenge random people to midnight sword fights that often? I wonder why you aren’t in jail.”

The guy gave an awkward cough. “No, this is a first. Being fair though, you didn’t exactly question it either. You just scooped up the sword and started fighting back. And, you are still here talking with me, rather than running away screaming either.”

Roman stood back up and grabbed the other sword. “Well, I better be off, then. Got work to complete in order to refill the burning rage inside. You’ll have a pleasant day tomorrow for dealing with me. Fair well, random peasant.”

The guy vanished from Virgil’s sight and he didn’t bother to turn to watch him go. Virgil glanced at his telescope before deciding that he was just going to continue laying here for a bit longer, questioning what even was his life. He wasn’t even aware of the sun rising or the sound of a car pulling up.

_“Gurl, your bitch-mobile is here!”_

“You are never going to believe the night I’ve had, Remy. You think the others are up for breakfast and a wild story?”

Remy appeared in Virgil’s line of sight, sipping from their coffee. “If you’re saying that it’s a wild story, I’m sure we can wrangle DeeDee and Emile out of bed. Especially since you got that ‘Remus just slapped me with a fish’ look.”

“Wasn’t Remus and wasn’t a fish this time.”

“Oh, gurl, I can tell this is going to be good. Let’s get you packed up and ready to go.”


	8. The Proper Response Was to Laugh, Not Scold!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil tells his friends about what happened last night. Patton gets an important piece of information.

“So, let me get this straight,” Dee said, using his fork as if checking things off on some invisible list in front of him. “Some drunk guy came to rant on the hill you were stargazing from. He called you a peasant several times while pretending to be some pompous prince. Then, he essentially threw a gauntlet–or a glove in his case–at you, challenging you to a sword duel, which your dumb, gay ass decided to _accept_? AND you didn’t call us to pick your dumb ass up immediately afterward?”

Virgil felt like his face was on fire but nodded. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“Have you lost your ever man-loving, gay-ass mind?”

“I’ve been asking myself that since it happened.”

“Remus, did you happen to escape Dee’s cuddles to pull some prank on VeeVee?” Emile asked.

“Mmmmmmmm” Remus hummed. “Nopity-nope. Too bland to be me. Plus, leave my precious serpentine love here freezing! Nopity-nope!”

“Rat man is right, it’s too vanilla for it to have been him. Plus, we’ve all been on the receiving side of Dee’s cuddles. Remus wouldn’t have been able to escape, even if he wanted to.” Remy stated.

“Yes, I am absolutely some touch-starved, cold-blooded snake that insists on always being given affection.” Dee sarcastically muttered.

“Glad you have finally admitted it, but we were not discussing your hunt for warmth. We’re discussing Virgil being a dummy.” Remy grinned at the unamused man.

“Guys, aren’t you all being a little harsh in this conversation with our young air-bender here?”

Dee and Remy glanced at each other before Dee said, “You be Sokka and I’ll be post-Western Air Temple Zuko?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Remy answered before looking back at Virgil.

“Oooooh, who am I?” Remus asked, happily.

“King Bumi” The two answered, without even glancing at the other.

“Uh, not what I meant?” Emile commented.

“Oh, hush, Uncle Iroh,” Dee said before he and Remy got started on roasting Virgil.

For his part, Virgil accepted the roasting, understanding that he kind of deserved it. Emile excused himself from the table for a few minutes before coming back with two small pieces of paper. He passed one to Remus, whispering something to him. Together, they shoved the pieces into their partner’s face.

“In the name of the Order of the White Lotus, we deem it our responsibility to take over the adult responsibilities of scolding the young avatar,” Emile announced, grinning.

“Did you really go and draw two Lotus flowers?” Remy asked.

“… maybe?”

Remy blinked as their internal _“I Love Emile”_ alarm repeatedly went off. “Alright, fine. I’ll lay off the case, this time. Just because you’re cute.”

“Alright, guess it’s Uncle Iroh and King Bumi’s turn,” Virgil commented. “Let’s get this scolding over with.”

Emile shrugged. “Don’t get into a literal sword fight with some random person you think is drunk. Now, how about a nice cup of jasmine tea?”

“That’s it? Really?” Dee looked unimpressed.

“You and Sokka covered everything, so I’m now in search of a nice cup of jasmine tea and a game of _Pai Sho_.”

“So, anyone else has any sort of news?” Virgil asked, trying to turn attention away from him.

Remus giggled. “DeeDee’s heater arrived two days ago and he loves it more than me!”

Dee went bright red before stuttering out an “I do not.”

They finished breakfast shipping Dee with Remus and his new heat lamp and cracking jokes that at least it was better than accepting a midnight duel with a stranger. Once breakfast was over, the group went their separate ways. Remy and Emile dropped Virgil and his stuff off before heading home for their traditional weekend cartoon binge. For a moment, as he put away his telescope, Virgil imagined Dee kissing Remus then kissing his lamp, sending the man into a laughing fit.

He decided that he was going to try a do-over of a recharge day. Thankfully for him, the day went better than yesterday. The store that he got his greenhouse stuff from even called to let him know that they had a single hose in stock and were holding it for him. He got his greenhouse back in proper working order and that was great.

The cherry on top? When Virgil checked his mailbox, he found an official letter approving his request to transfer the Ixia from its current home into his greenhouse. Virgil filed it away with the other official acceptances, happy with how today went.

He went to bed and forced himself to get up early in order to head to the hill. Walking, Virgil decided that he wasn’t going to freak Lo and Pat out about the weird thing that had happened the night before. They seemed to like him well enough; he didn’t need them thinking that he had gone mad. He also didn’t need to tell it and have either of them giving him the same lecture that Dee and Remy gave him. Plus, after the roasting his friends gave him, he didn’t feel the story was as hilarious anymore.

Pat was already there softly singing to the flowers with a twittering bird chirping along. He smiled up at Virgil as the purple-haired man moved over but didn’t stop singing. Virgil didn’t know the song he was singing, but hummed along, which made the man smile brighter than the rising sun.

“That was so cool!” Patton squealed once he finished the song. “You have a really pretty voice, Anxie!”

“Nothing compared to yours,” Virgil answered, before realizing that _he just said that aloud!_

Patton blushed. “Thanks.”

“So, I finally heard back about the Ixia. The request was approved.” Virgil said, quickly.

“Oh! That’s… uh… great?”

Virgil looked over the other, who suddenly had lost the smile. “Pat, what’s wrong? Did you change your mind about having it moved?”

“No, no, it’s not that.” He answered.

Virgil sat and offered the other an arm, which Patton accepted for cuddles immediately. “Then, what’s up? I don’t want my bestest friendo upset.”

“It’s just silly, you don’t need to worry about it. It’s fine, really.”

“Pat,” Virgil said gently. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine, but I can see that you’re upset about something.”

“I’m just worried that once you have the Ixia in your greenhouse, I won’t get to see you as much anymore,” Pat whispered.

“Oh… well, you can stop worrying about that, Pat. I tend to cling to the handful of friends I have.” Virgil grinned. “Or, realistically accept my fate as Dee’s cuddle buddy for however long he clings onto me.”

Pat giggled. “Can I ask something then?”

“What’s up?”

“Is Anx your real name? LoLo told Ro and me that was what you introduced yourself as, but it seems like an odd name.”

Virgil blinked, thinking back to the day he met Lo. “Huh, I don’t think I did ever say my name. It’s Virgil. Most people just call me Anx or a couple go with Vee, so I didn’t realize…”

“I like that name. I don’t think we gave you our full names either! Lo is Logan or to the meanies at his work call him Logic. I’m Patton!”

Virgil grinned as he stuck out his hand. “Well, a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Patton. And a pleasure to become so close of friends that we only knew nicknames of each other before real names.”

Patton was giggling as he accepted the other’s hand. “And you thought we couldn’t become friends!”

“Glad I was wrong,” Virgil agreed, laughing.


	9. You've Got to be Kidding Me...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil (finally) gets a date.

A couple of months passed, and Virgil had never felt better about his life. For almost every minor annoyance he faced, there was a small blessing soon to follow; Virgil’s headphones broke, but he found out his favorite brand was having a massive sale so he bought three extra pairs. Virgil was even working on adding a second greenhouse as the plants he worked with were doing exceptionally well. On top of that, he regularly met up with Logan and Patton on that hill, much to the annoyance of his friends. Being fair, they were ready for this _boi_ to finally get a date with these mysterious gays.

Only minor blip on his good couple months was that weirdo who challenged him. Virgil ended up having two more random middle of the night duels with this dude. Yet, Virgil found that he didn’t actually mind them? Sure, it was bonkers and he really should be more worried about his safety regarding the weirdo, but he wasn’t? This weirdo was actually good company and like he knew how to sword fight? Virgil wondered what he as like when he wasn’t drunk, though doubted he’d find out. That was fine, considering he didn’t tell his friends that he glanced at their advice (taunts) and just kind of yeeted them out of the window.

 _Yeah, things are going well_ , Virgil thought as he climbed the hill.

“Virgil!” Patton screeched as Virgil arrived.

Patton threw himself at the other, happy to be caught in a hug from him. “Hello to you too, Pat.”

“I guess review for your assessment is now on hold, Pat,” Logan commented but looked pleased nonetheless with the new arrival.

“VeeVee, we have something to ask you!” Patton excitedly said.

Virgil laughed as he moved over to sit under the tree with Logan. “You always have something to ask, Pat.”

“Yes, well, this is a bit different,” Logan adjusted his glasses. “Though we had agreed to discuss it later, Pat.”

The man bowed his head with a sheepish grin. “I’m just excited, LoLo!”

“And now, I’m curious. What’s up, Specs?”

“Well, our other partner has a guaranteed day off this Friday. We were hoping that you’d be willing to accompany us to lunch to meet him.” Logan answered, adjusting his tie.

Virgil couldn’t help the snort that came out. “About time he got a day off. It’s been like what three or four months? I’d be happy to meet him, though I would have thought you three would prefer to spend his day off on some grand date.”

“That’s another thing…” Logan was now blushing.

Pat jumped in excitedly. “We’re asking if you would like to go on a date with us, Virgil! It’ll be a blind date with our other partner, but you’ve probably heard enough about him that it’s less a blind date and more of a ‘huh that’s what you look like’ thing. So, what do you say, VeeVee?”

“It’s alright if you would rather it not be a date, we’ll totally understand, but…”

“Hey, Logan, you don’t need to give me that lecture as my answer is yes. I’d love to go on a date with you two and this mysterious third person. When? Where? Like yes, absolutely yes!”

The advisor let out a relieved breath as he broke into a smile. “This Friday, around 12 work for you? At Dragon’s Lantern?”

“Dragon’s Lantern is usually extremely busy around noon, like thirty-minute waits long.” Virgil was wincing as if this comment would ruin this chance.

Logan nodded, “That is good to know. Let’s amend that to two then? Or maybe three?”

“Two should be fine.”

Patton squealed as he yanked the purple-haired man into a hug. “Then it’s a date!”

“Yes,” Logan adjusted his glasses again. “And as I am aware of your anxiety issues, I would recommend more business-casual wear. Knowing Ro, he’s going to go for a blazer and he’s the most over the top when it comes to outfits.”

“Oh, he’d get along well with Remy then. I’m doomed to be dragged on at least three shopping trips this week the second they find out about this.” Virgil couldn’t knock the smile off his face, even if he wanted too.

They discussed more about plans for the rest of the afternoon. Logan and Virgil finally exchanged numbers. Virgil was a bit disappointed when he learned the two of them weren’t going to be able to come to their hill for the rest of the week due to work conflicts, but it did give them a week’s worth of stuff to talk about on their _date!_ Finally, they split off to head to their homes.

****

“Well?” Roman demanded the moment his partners appeared at the dining table.

“He said yes! We changed the time as apparently, the place is super busy, but it’s a yes!” Patton squealed. “We have a date with Virgil!”

****

Virgil’s friends were more along the lines of a tired “You’ve been crushing on these two guys for months and you _finally_ have a date.”

“Really? That’s what you have to say?” Virgil answered, a little deflated.

Remy grinned at him. “Gurl, even your dreams are of those two men. It’s about time.”

Dee didn’t even bother looking up from his phone. “Better information you can give us is what time you’re supposed to meet these guys. We’ll need to figure out the game plan.”

****

Finally, Virgil stood outside the Dragon’s Lantern, with his heart pounding. _Come on, Virge. You’ve been here at least once a month since it opened with your friends. Except my friends weren’t hot guys who are for some absurd reason interested in me…_

Virgil shook his head, stopping himself from going down that line of thought. He was about ten minutes early, so texted Logan. He hadn’t even locked his phone before the man had sent a message back saying that they were already inside. Virgil gulped but entered the restaurant. He saw the hostess, Tiffany, talking with the manager and noted a couple of other patrons in booths around the walls.

Terror ran through him as he finally spotted Logan and Patton. He took a deep breath and moved over to their table. A third man with brown hair was waving his arms around, discussing something with the blond- and black-haired men. Virgil noted that the new man looked fairly muscular, which was a huge plus, if he were honest with his gay heart.

“Admit it, Lo! The idea is _brilliant!_ ” the man insisted.

The voice might have stabbed Virgil with a sword, much like the voice kept trying to do. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Sir Screams A Lot? You’re Lo and Pat’s partner?”

The third man spun in his seat so fast that he nearly fell out of it. “No way.”

“Yeah, no way. I wouldn’t have expected _this_ …” Virgil waved vaguely, startled.

Logan cleared his throat. “Uh, I get the feeling that the two of you have already met?”

Roman awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh, I suppose so? Didn’t know that he was the same guy you two were talking about though.”

“You suppose so? Those parties you keep attending must really be something else if you only ‘suppose so’ about knowing some random person you keep throwing a sword at to literally duel you.” Virgil answered, slipping into the empty chair at the table.

“Ro, you didn’t.” Patton’s voice was filled with shock and a touch of disbelief.

“I mean… Well, it’s not _that_ bad?”

“The first sentence you said to me was literally ‘Begone, peasant, or I’ll send you to the stocks and leave you for the dragon witch.’ What do you mean it’s not that bad? What do you take at those parties you keep attending?”

Roman planted his head on the table, desperately thinking through the shit show that was his life. _How badly is Logan going to kill me later?_ _Well, considering the random guy had taken a seat at the table has to mean something, right_? Maybe Roman wasn’t royally screwed. He was with Logan, for sure, but maybe not with Patton? Oh, who was he kidding? They’ve been crushing hard on this guy and Roman may have done some… irreparable things.

Logan took a deep breath, processing all this new information, before sighing. “Unfortunately, that sounds very Roman. I’m so sorry, Virgil. This wasn’t exactly how…”

“Hey, Lo? I’m the one with the anxiety disorder. Leave the anxiety to me. I was the one to pick up the sword, on three separate occasions, to go along with him.” Virgil answered. “The fact he isn’t wearing some princey get up and giant fake wings shows he’s at least not as bad as normal.”

 _That’s it, I’m dead._ Roman couldn’t help but think as he groaned. _Lo’s going to tell Dad and then everything will just get worse. Hopefully, he doesn’t admit more from my rant…_

Roman suddenly sat up in his seat, terror running through him. “I think uh… Anx and I should possibly have a word alone, to maybe reconcile?”

Logan merely blinked before standing up. “Alright, I’ll go wash up for lunch. Patton?”

The other man got to his feet and followed Logan into the bathroom without a word. The moment the bathroom door shut, Logan raised his arm and screamed into the crook of his elbow. _That dumbass! What else did he do in front of Virgil? Obviously, there was no restraint on his actions as the idiot challenged Virgil to a duel of all things!_

Patton leaned against the wall, processing what was supposed to be an extremely happy meeting for what just happened. He wasn’t exactly surprised to hear that Roman had done something so, even if it sounded mean, stupid. He wasn’t even sure he was surprised Roman and Virgil met already. It was just a lot to take in. He couldn’t help but think to himself: _There’s going to be a long conversation later, and unfortunately, not about Ro’s feelings about the cute guy._

At the table, the two sat in silence for a moment. Virgil could pick up that the last man was carefully choosing his next set of words. He was curious about what was about to come from the man, as what did he have to really say about it? For his part, Roman was frantically trying to decide how to beg the other not to rat more out about his rants without upsetting the other patrons or making the situation worse.

“So, uh…” Roman cleared his throat. “This may be an unfair request, but please, don’t tell them about what I was ranting about.”

Whatever Virgil was expecting, it was not this. “Uh, wasn’t planning on that?”

“I get that it was extremely unfair of me to do uh… well pretty much all of the stuff I did, but I didn’t want to unload any of that on either of them and while it wasn’t so much a request as an order, I did try to get you to go away while I was dealing with my frustration but that probably doesn’t matter to you. I just had too much going on and I didn’t want Pat to become upset or Lo to think less of me and…” Roman was grasping at straws now as he rambled.

“Hey, you can also knock off the anxiety,” Virgil said, cutting off Roman’s rambling. “Picking on you about calling me some peasant is fair game, as that’s what we’ve got. I figured that you were letting out steam when you started barking instructions at me that first time. Like you said the first time, I did also fight back. We were both dumbasses and while I’m not entirely sure that means we’re friends or whatever, but still, we’re basically friends.”

Logan and Patton were coming back, softly talking, as Virgil added on. “How about this, we forget what’s happened and start over? Though, I will probably still call you Sir Screams A Lot, as you’ll probably have a hard time _not_ calling me some peasant.”

Roman’s face went pick, but he nodded. “Sounds like a plan. Thanks.”

“Though, I do have to ask. Why on earth would you go around carrying two swords dressed as some fairy prince? I get needing to burn some excess energy, but like why?”

“And I believe I told you that they were part of a performance I was a part of!” Roman answered, quickly, noticing a flash of _something_ in Logan’s eyes.

“Uh, is everything OK?” Patton asked, uncertainly.

“Oh, yeah, everything’s chill. Princey here was panicking, as he misinterpreted my sarcasm and jokes as actual jabs.” Virgil answered calmly. “You two don’t need to worry. Despite a lack of real introductions, we have a decent friendship.”

_“Oh, Anxie has more than one group of misfits?”_

“That’s rude, Becca. Emile is not a misfit and we all know this. He’s our only saving grace.” Virgil responded, with a fat grin to the server.

Logan and Patton glanced at each other. Roman carefully read the looks and felt a breath of relief. They were thinking that maybe his and Virgil’s interactions were more of their personalities contrasting than anything major. Roman could accept that. He might survive this date after all! He’d suffer pretty bad at Lo’s wrath over his decisions, but he’ll live to see the light of day!

They ordered and started talking about Pat’s Ixia and then plants more in general. Roman was struck by just how intelligent his dueling partner was. He matched Logan almost pace for pace. Yet, he managed to throw some jokes in for Patton with ease. Virgil even managed to incorporate some of Roman’s interest in art or discussing flowers from famous works.

As the plates were coming out, Virgil got a little glint in his eyes that unsettled Logan, but he still commented. “Really, that easy?”

“It’s not really anything much. You just have to have…” With a flick of his wrist, Virgil let a candy bar fall before Patton, “a few Twix up your sleeve.”

Patton let out an excited squeal as he showed off the Twix bar that had fallen before him. Logan let his head fall onto the table, making sure not to faceplant into a plate that was just set on the table, as he groaned at the joke. The server had a laugh at Virgil’s antics as she placed the rest of the plates.

Roman was struck utterly speechless, realizing that he was now screwed. He’s fallen in love with this mysterious guy he keeps fighting. Someone who could make Logan and Patton smile so much was good in Roman’s book, but Virgil went out of his way to make sure all of them were able to talk. Roman knew that Lo and Pat had told Virgil some about him, but to listen to Virgil reference things and look at Roman, expecting something to be said showed he actually remembered and wanted to include Roman. He was even well versed in all the Disney movies, which was absolutely perfect, even if his interpretations were… darker. Yep, Roman was gone and seeing Pat’s smile and Lo groaning made him realize he was fine with it.

“How did you do that, VeeVee?” Patton asked.

“Magicians do not spill their secrets,” Virgil answered, mystically.

“Whaaaaaaaat?” Patton asked surprised.

Virgil set a hand over his heart, though his fat grin showed that he was playing around. “Oh no, you’ve worn me down, Pat. I’ll tell my secret. Had the candy bar in my pocket the entire time! Fraud! I’m but a simple fraud!”

Patton giggled. “You’re not a fraud, Vee…”

 _“Viiiiiiiiirgil!”_ a voice cried out as a man shot from a booth behind the purple-haired one.

Virgil barely turned his head before Remus had thrown himself at him. “What the?”

“Viiiiiirgiiiiie! DeeDee won’t let me have my deodorant! Tell him to give me my…” Remus let out a shrill screech as he noticed someone coming.

Still screeching, he scrambled out of Virgil’s lap and ran out the front door as an irritated Dee rushed after him. “You get back here!”

“Where? What?” Virgil looked at the three, who looked just about as shocked as he felt. “Where did they come from?”

Without a word, the three pointed to a booth behind Virgil. He turned and saw a lone man with his head in his hand. He seemed to know he’d been caught as he stood up. Emile was bright red as he placed a bill on the table for the server. He finally came over, looking extremely guilty.

“Sorry, VeeVee. I’ll leave you to your date.”

Emile left the restaurant without another word. Virgil stood up and moved so he could look out the window. He watched as his three friends rushed away from the restaurant. _Great, those three dumb-dumbs are going to ruin this for him!_ He let out a breath before returning to the table.

“I’m so sorry about that. I didn’t even realize they were here. I can’t believe my dumb friends were _spying_ …”

Patton grinned at the embarrassed man. “It’s OK, VeeVee. It just means they care a whole lot about you!”

It took a little before Virgil managed to relax, but he was already mentally planning the _very_ long conversation he was going to have with them later. Still, that was for later, and he had three extremely handsome men wanting to talk with him, so he at least had his priorities straight… or realistically gay. Very gay.


	10. Uh Oh, Roman Has Regretti Oh's!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan, Patton, and Roman have a long chat after their date with Virgil.

As the three partners returned, home, Roman started to become antsier. _What is Logan thinking? What was Patton thinking? Logan has that face he gets when he’s thinking through something important._ Logan was even impassive when Patton tried to discuss the date and how cute Virgil looked all dressed up. _This is not going to end well._

They finally arrived at their set of rooms. Roman promptly took a seat on the couch, silently waiting for Logan’s explosion. Patton didn’t look too happy but he offered Roman a sympathetic smile. Logan wasn’t looking at Roman. He took his time closing the door behind him, deciding what to address first.

“Lo, please. Say something. I know I screwed up and you have every right to be furious with me. I can’t take this angry silence though.” Roman finally begged.

“Roman, I am lucky enough to have two different, but equally important, positions in your life.” Logan started carefully, still not looking at his partner. “Both with their responsibilities and both with their own worries. It is normally alright as I have found a balance between the roles of advisor and partner. Yet, when you do something _this dumb…!_ ”

“I know. It was a bad decision. Virgil understood where I was coming from though!” Roman answered.

Roman’s voice caught though as Logan turned to face them. He had two streaks down his face, with additional drops widening the streaks. The normally composed man looked close to a breakdown. Roman knew he had messed up, but seeing Logan desperately trying to keep himself composed made Roman understand just how bad he messed up.

“It’s not about your interactions with Virgil, Roman. I knew you two would butt heads when I first met him! This is about you so carelessly disregarding your status as a prince and making decisions with such careless disregard! As your advisor, I am supposed to know everything you are doing every moment of the day. You are the only offspring of the king, so I need to be sure that there were proper security measures, your location in case of an emergency, and many other things in order to do my work properly, for both you and the realm. As much as the future of the people rested on you, Roman, it also rests on my shoulders. What do you think would happen if you went missing? Not knowing that the dumb prince had snuck out without protection or even telling anyone put the future of our people at risk, and people would look to me to explain what happened if something happened to you. If I don’t know you snuck out to go frolic in the fairy circles, what am I supposed to say? We would have no information about what happened to you!”

Logan took a deep breath and the tears started to really come as his dam broke. “Roman, you are a prominent figure. Someone could snatch you up, for ransom, revenge, or whatever, and then what? I would be left here, terrified that I must have done something wrong and scared for your safety. I’m supposed to know where you are and if you got into trouble… Sure, if something were to happen, there were protocols and whatever but those wouldn’t relieve the ache that Patton and I would both feel as you can’t be replaced. I’m relieved that it was only Virgil you interacted with. Patton and I know him well enough to know he poses little threat to you. If it had been any of the supernatural who reside within the human settlements… We remain within the realm of the fae to ease tensions with them. If they had found the _prince_ of the beings most of them despise… What do you think would happen! What it would do to your people! To your dad! To _us_!”

Roman wasn’t fully aware that he now had tears streaming down his face as he answered softly. “Lo, I’m sorry. I know it was impulsive and it was stupid. I just needed air, away from everything.”

Looking Roman straight in the eyes, Logan finally asked the real point he wanted to know. “Why didn’t you come to us, then, Roman? Did we… did _I_ do something?”

Roman surged to his feet and pulled the crying fairy into his arms. “No, Lo! It wasn’t about you or Pat. I just wanted to let off steam and I didn’t want to worry you two. You have billions of things going through your amazing mind all the time. I didn’t want to add another thing to your load. So, I snuck out when I was supposed to be working in my study. It was never supposed to worry you. I was armed and vigilant about my surroundings so that I could return to the two of you.”

“And yet you apparently stood around some random being without any magic disguising your appearance,” Logan mumbled.

“Well, you’ve gone on about how comfortable it is just to _be_ around Virgil. I guess I felt the same about him.” Roman answered, awkwardly.

Logan’s voice was starting to crack. “Now about that entire altercation. You have thirty seconds to explain why attacking a random human was in any way a good idea.”

“I didn’t just go up to some random circle and just strike whatever moved!” Roman immediately started, knowing he really did only have thirty seconds. “I was just out clearing my head and he was there! He was snarky and it wasn’t thought out! It just kind of happened! We talked, I tried sending him away, but he didn’t leave. I then tried to magic him away instead at first but he’s one of those immune and it all just kind of went downhill from there!”

Logan noted that the fairy’s wings were fluttering, something that only really happened when Roman was nervous, meaning this was a conversation he wanted to hear. “And the part about leaving him for the dragon witch?”

“I said it while trying to send him away, Logan! He wasn’t supposed to hear it! I specifically planted the idea of being bored with nothing and no one around, so deciding to leave into his mind. For a moment, it seemed like it worked, but then he started off on something about a party. I hadn’t planned on handing him a sword and teaching him how to use it. That happened after about an hour of sarcasm at each other.”

Logan was about to demand something else, but Patton moved over to gently touch his arm. “Lo, I think Roman is telling the truth. I mean, they had a steady banter the entire lunch. You’ve made your point. Roman should be more careful, and at very least _tell_ us when he does something like this. You’re just going to start reiterating what you said soon.”

Logan groaned as he slumped onto the couch. “I know, but this date was supposed to be… uuuugh. It wasn’t supposed to end with these _bad_ emotions... Ugh, more of these feelings, gross. I thought I was done with these once you joined the relationship, Pat.”

“I get it, LoLo,” Pat said. “We all wanted this date to go well. I think, for the most part, it did. We were having fun! He even made a joke that made you laugh- don’t give me that look, I heard those chuckled from you. Roman has admitted he was wrong, so let’s just put it past us and talk about how amazing our date with Virgil was!”

“At least it was going well until his friends decided to appear,” Roman commented. “Did either of you notice that one of them was a shapeshifter? I didn’t get a decent look at the other two as that one was glaring me down pretty much all of lunch.”

_Tap tap tap._

Patton immediately went and opened the door to reveal the king. Thomas was completely different when he wasn’t having to act like the King he was. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a galaxy shirt. His rainbow wings were lazily fluttering behind him as he looked over the trio. Yet, even without kingly regalia, he instantly caught onto the tension and other high running emotions in the room.

“So, I hear frantic screeching, which means Roman did a dumb, probably on your date. That being said, what has my son done this time?”

“DAD!” Roman screeched.

“That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

Patton swished his dress as he answered. “It’s nothing, your majesty! We’re just talking about how our date went.”

Thomas noted that the worst of whatever happened seemed to have passed as he hummed. “Ah, with this mysterious Virgil. So, how was it?”

Logan glanced, challengingly, at Roman before deciding against it. “It was good.”

_So Roman did do a dumb,_ Thomas thought. “So, do I want to know why Roman is on the hook?”

“I…may have actually met Virgil before,” Roman muttered.

Thomas raised an eyebrow at him. “And?”

“After an hour of snark and sarcasm, I challenged him to a sword fight and then actually taught him how to use it rather than fighting.”

_“PAY UP SUCKERS!”_ the tiny advisor, who was lucky enough to be passing by, grinned from the door, before flying off.

“Talyn is winning all of my extra money,” Thomas muttered.

Logan blinked in shock. “What could the bet possibly have been?”

“How this Virgil guy and Roman would interact for the first time. Joan said they’d be too busy flirting. I said that he’d be a bit more reserved since you lot told us about his anxiety. Talyn said they’d get into a fight.”

“JOAN!”

“Uh, Thomas? Are there any more bets that we should know about?” Patton asked uncertainly.

He grinned, seeing a chance to get them at least less upset, if not laughing. “Nah, we try to keep a cap on ongoing bets. None of us are as organized as Lo, so we would lose track of all the bets too fast. Anyways, when am I supposed to be at the funeral, Lo? How formal do I need to appear?”

“Wait, what funeral?” Logan asked, startled.

Thomas waved at Roman. “This one’s funeral. I figure you’re holding off until Pat isn’t watching. I’m asking when you’re planning the funeral and how formal I should be. Like ‘this was a complete shock’ formal or ‘this dork had it coming for him since the first meeting with this Virgil guy’ formal.”

“What.”

“Oh, alright then. Complete shock, didn’t see it coming, don’t know who did it. Should be able to get a day or two off to mourn the dork.”

Logan looked like someone had told him that a lion had broken into his study and was using his favorite pen as a toy. “I’m not planning his death, though?”

Roman realized that this was a ploy to bring a smile to their faces. “Before all present here now, I name Patton Heart as my successor as the son of King Thomas and Prince of the Fae!”

Thomas laughed as he gently pulled Pat into a hug. “You’ve been adopted, Pat. Glad to finally have a son that doesn’t challenge everything that moves to a sword fight.”

Roman huffed. “I do not challenge everything that moves!”

“Wait a moment!” Logan looked a bit freaked out now. “Who said I was planning on murdering Roman? What am I supposed to murder him for!”

“Hey, LoLo,” Pat answered softly with a small grin. “It’s a joke. We know you aren’t planning on murdering RoRo over his previous interactions with VeeVee.”

“Oh…”

Thomas laughed. “So, other than Roman being the dork he is, how was the date otherwise?”

“Good! He even did one of the human magic tricks that made LoLo laugh!” Pat giggled. “He has a candy bar up his sleeve and slipped it out with a pun and it was so funny and he was so cute!”

“We got back not too long ago, so we still need to discuss with Roman on what he thinks of Virgil, but I believe the date went well enough,” Logan answered.

“Oh, I guess I should let the three of you be then. If you need me, you know how to find me.”

“Chant your name over a rainbow flag three times.”

“Have pizza delivered and put on Hamilton music as loud as possible.”

“Start talking bad about myself.”

Thomas blinked. “I was going to say head on over to my lounge as I’m having a movie marathon.”

“But those are still valid ways to summon you, Dad.” Roman laughed.

“Have fun, Thomas! Come on you two! Let’s head out for a walk while we talk!” Pat announced before dragging his partners all the way into the town surrounding the castle.

Roman carefully looked at Logan. “So, you aren’t completely livid at me, Lo?”

“I am irate, and plan on discussing further why you happened to pop out into a fairy circle in full fairy mode, but I’m not planning murder.”

“Oh, thank goodness.”

“It’s much too quick a punishment. No, watching you suffer for trying to harm a purple hair on Virgil’s head will be much more satisfying. What’s better than using your own fears against you, anyway? You’ll spend time looking over your shoulder, waiting for my wrath. Then, in the moments you least expect it, will you come to regret your poor choices. I can’t draw out death as long as I can draw out your anxiety over my plans.”

Roman positioned himself on the other side of Patton. “I’d much rather death, please.”

Patton giggled as he threw his arms around the prince. “Don’t worry, RoRo. Lo wouldn’t hurt you. He loves you too much.”

“Gross,” Logan commented before adding. “Which also reminds me, as your partner and personal advisor, I will be taking all but one of your swords. One will be sufficient if you get into trouble and have to bail yourself out, but you can’t throw a sword at someone to duel with if you only have one sword.”

“I’d take this sort of punishment over the unknown. Can we stick to explicit punishments over…”

“No.”

Patton decided this was only going to get worse, so changed the topic. “So, come on, tell us what you think of Vee! Do you like him?”

Roman lost the worried look only to gain a soft smile. “Yeah, I do. I really do.”

While he didn’t ramble about something specific, he did talk with Logan and Patton about the things he did notice. Eventually, they fell silent, thinking about the one who had charmed all three of them. They walked in comfortable silence through the town, just enjoying their time together.

Young fae children were out playing games, like Freeze Flight Tag. They passed a couple helping a toddler stretch their wings and train their muscles for flight. A couple of fairies with their witches were looking at different magical items like spyglasses, cursed necklaces, or potions. Logan had to gently drag Pat and Ro away from an elderly fairy telling a tale to a group of children about how he lost one of his wings to a chimera. Roman bought Logan a small celestial orb that showed where the stars, planets, comets and whatever else was up there were on any given night. For Patton, he snatched up a soft blanket with different animals all over it. He even grabbed a small purple succulent for Virgil, that he would end up having to have Lo or Pat give him, but he liked to think it was the thought that mattered. While Lo and Ro were arguing about something, Patton snuck off to play with a small puppy, only to be dragged away once they realized.

Logan finally asked something that had been bothering him on their walk once they sat down for some ice cream. “Roman, about something you said earlier. Are you sure that one of his friends is a shifter?”

Roman nodded, uncomfortably. “Yeah, he seemed about one wrong word away from shifting and coming at me the entire time.”

“Should we be worried about them?” Patton asked Logan, worriedly.

“Considering how long it took before they made their presence known, even to Virgil, I would say no. You have had more conversations with Virge about his friends, so you might have a better understanding, Pat.”

“Well, VeeVee told me that they are all each other have. He said that ‘we’re just a bunch of abandoned, lost trouble-makers who made our own family’. I would say that if anything they’d be protective of VeeVee.”

Logan tapped his spoon against the side of his ice cream cup, thinking. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

A small _ding_ startled the logical man. He pulled out the phone he had obtained solely to contact Virgil. A smile lit up his face as he saw it was a text from the anxious one:

_[Virgil]: I had a great time, hope my dumbass friends didn’t scare you three [sent at 1729]_

_[Virgil]: P.S. don’t kill the royal dumbass, he was just as cute as you and Pat ; ) [sent at 1730]_

“Why does everyone think I’m going to kill you!” Logan demanded after handing the phone to Patton, blushing too deep red for his preference.

“Awww, he called all of us cute! Can I respond, LoLo?”

Logan mumbled something as he placed his burning face on the freezing table, which Patton took as a yes and so started typing.

_[Logan]: Heyyo, Kiddo! It’s Patty! We had a great time too! And if we’re cute, you’re just as much a cutie! RoRo isn’t dead and LoLo is confused why he’s supposed to kill RoRo, so I think RoRo is safe. Does this mean we can possibly convince you of another date, sometime? :$ [sent at 1732]_

_[Virgil]: … [sent at 1733]_

_[Virgil]: Sorry, was screaming [sent at 1738]_

_[Virgil]: I’d love that, Pat! [sent at 1738]_


	11. Let's Talk About Virgil's Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dee and Remy worry about Virgil's dates being fairies.

“Hey, Remy,” Dee said, not bothering to knock on the other’s door, as he walked in. “We need to talk. It’s import… what are you doing?”

Remy didn’t look up from the mixture of herbs and sand they were working with. “What does it look like? I’m trying to make my sand more potent. What’s up with you, gurl?”

“The guys Vee’s been on about,” Dee answered.

That caught Remy’s attention. “What about them? Is Vee in trouble?”

Dee answered by pulling a picture up on his phone to show the other. “You could say that.”

Remy set aside the vial before they accepted the phone and looked over the image. It was three men talking at a table. To a normal person, there was nothing more to it. To Remy? They could see the magic hiding giant shimmering wings behind the three beings. They could see the small tendrils of magic leaking off of the three beings.

“Fairies,” Remy stated, looking up at Dee.

Dee nodded, uncomfortably. “And from what we overheard, Vee’s managed to get himself not three regular fairies. Recognize the middle one?”

Remy looked again, before blinking. “That’s Prince Roman. Virgil went on a date with the Prince of the Fae and his boyfriends. Damn it, Vee, how do you do these things you do! Before Virgil got there, did you hear anything about why they’re after Virgil?”

“No, the other two seemed to be fairly smitten with him. Once Vee arrived though, he did rat the prince out about fighting him. The prince went as far as to beg him not to tell what he confided in him. A slightly more important point is that they know his name.”

Remy ran a hand through their hair. “Wait, there isn’t a fairy circle in town though? It shouldn’t be possible for three fairies to go this far from a fairy circle.”

In response, Dee pulled a single mushroom from his pocket. “Apparently, there is. I didn’t stick around to investigate as Virgil was watching us, looking a bit angry. My guess is that there may be one that was paved over. Those damn mushrooms just resist death.”

Remy stared at the stupid mushroom. “Do you think they have him caught in any of their magic?”

Dee thought carefully before answering. “While they do know his name, I don’t think they’ve cast magic on him. The prince had actually _begged_ Virgil not to talk about their meeting with the other two, which he wouldn’t have to do if he had Virgil trapped in their magic. Plus, Virgil isn’t even susceptible to your sleep sand, which is one of the most powerful kinds of magic.”

“I wouldn’t say that about this waste of sand. The stuff is useless on the two beings who actually need it in this town.” Remy glared at the sand they were working with. “What good is a sandman who can’t even get sleep for themselves?”

“Tell you what, you take the snakeskin, cold blood, and whatever else comes with being a shifter and I’ll take being the sleepless sandman. We’re not talking about our own issues; we’re discussing our best friend who has somehow gotten himself into the middle of Fae issues. If his dumb, oblivious ass hasn’t caught on to the fact you are a sandman and I’m a shapeshifter, he without a doubt hasn’t realized that he’s flirting with a bunch of fairies.”

“Please, bitch. I’ve been stressing over that idiot for _years_ , even before I came to know of my abilities.” Remy sighed before pinching their eyes. “Alright, give me the rundown. We can try to figure out just how far in the hole Virgil has gotten himself.”

Dee explained everything to Remy. They started scribbling notes down, tracking just how far the fairies had tricked their friend. Yet, none of this helped ease their worry as there was just so little of the normal interactions between humans and the fae showing from Virgil and these three fairies. After a couple of hours of work, all they had to show were two papers of possible things that even Dee felt were a stretch.

 _Knock. Knock._ “Howdy, y’all. Uh, VeeVee is here. He’s already spotted Remus, so knows that you are here as well, Dee. He wants to… _talk_ with us.”

“Emile, real quick, come here,” Remy said.

Emile raised an eyebrow before entering the room. He didn’t like this room in the slightest, and Remy knew that. Magic, in general, made the poor doctor uncomfortable, but he loved his partner too much to hide from it. Emile could ignore the magic for Remy, he just couldn’t hide from it. Remy shut the door behind Emile, whispering a soft apology.

“Alright, did you tell him, Dee?”

“No.”

Emile looked between the two of them. “Tell me what?”

Dee sighed. “Virgil’s dates are fae, and the brown-haired one? He’s the prince.”

“But Virgil somehow has yet to learn of…” Emile waved at the sand on the table, “this.”

“And I think all of us would prefer that he stays in the dark about it, much like I would have preferred you to as well. We need to figure out just how much influence they have over him. You’re probably the best bet at getting him to talk.”

Unfortunately for them, Virgil was not happy and willing to go searching for them. He threw open the door, startling the three. He started chewing them out for not even warning him that they had decided to spy on his date. Remus appeared at some point, but he was silent and had his head lowered, probably having already gotten a bit of a lecture from the man. Any thought of them getting information out of the angry man was lost.

The only person not being (completely) scolded was Remy, unfortunately for them, that meant they were on Remus watch. Remy wanted to point out that this was a lot of anger for one date, but Virgil didn’t give them the chance. He reminded them, before Remy could say anything, that this was about the sixth or seventh date at least one of them have spied on (and possibly ruined for him).

After what Remy would have deemed 5ever, Virgil’s voice finally started to crack. With a soft but sincere apology, Emile managed to convince him to get a drink. Virgil followed Emile out of the room, leaving the other three. Dee waved at where the man had been exasperated. _What was that!_

“Considering it’s not too long since you showed up, I think he’s still quite a bit embarrassed?” Remy offered.

Dee rolled his eyes as he scribbled ‘angrier’ on their list of possible influences. “Sure, I’ll believe that once we get him out of those pests’ grasp.”

Remy sighed. “I’ll do my thing and see what I can find tonight. I don’t like digging through memories, especially memories of friends, but he’s never going to tell us.”

And that was how Remy found themselves creepily standing over their sleeping friend at four in the morning. _Virgil isn’t even fully asleep!_ Remy noticed his phone still on, playing some video, which meant he fell asleep not too long ago.

 _What am I even doing!_ Remy wanted to scream, but they knew they needed to be sure that those fairies weren’t hurting their friend. Virgil was a skilled natural witch, but natural witches don’t need to know about the supernatural world to become skilled. They could happily live their lives in ignorance, thinking they were just naturally good at some skills. Remy didn’t want to cause their friend any more stress or worry about having to worry about some boogie man in the night…

Remy barely cut off a scream of frustration, realizing that this time, they were Virgil’s boogie man. They sighed before they locked the phone and plugged it in. They tucked the barely sleeping one in before carefully touching his forehead. They concentrated on only memories of the three fairies, not wanting to intrude more than they already were. After a moment, Remy was relieved to find that there was only one memory where they felt the touches of magic.

The prince had raised his hand at Virgil, telling him to begone. He then looked at his hand in shock. _The magic didn’t work on Virgil._ With that fact sitting in their brain, Remy let out a breath of relief. Even without a name, the prince should have been able to plant a simple thought into Virgil’s mind. That was basic magic, used to keep their perpetual existence as secret. If the Fae Prince couldn’t force Virgil into doing something with his magic, there wasn’t much of a chance the other two could.

As Remy pulled away, a different memory threw itself at them, demanding to be seen. The black-haired fairy was sitting next to Virgil as they watched some video. Remy heard a whisper about fairies from the phone. They looked at the fairy’s face and saw the disbelief on his face. Virgil commented something about a fairy fact from the video being ridiculous, whereas the sandman and the fairy in the memory knew the fact was true.

_Good, he’s just as oblivious with them as he is with us._

“Remy? Wha-“ a sleep-muddled voice cut through Remy’s thoughts.

Panic ran through the sandman as they threw a handful of sand into the air, desperately hoping that it would make the sleeping one think it was still part of his dream. “Bitch, you are waking up. Stop that and come hang out with us! Remus is even an actual rat!”

“Mhhm?” the half-asleep man hummed but he didn’t open his eyes and quickly fell back into the first stage of sleep, much to the sandman’s relief.

_Time to get out of here!_

Dee was pacing in his living room when the sandman appeared in a swirl of sand. “So? What did you find?”

“Magic doesn’t work on him. The prince was the only one to try, and he was just trying to get Vee to go away. Also, found out that even these fairies think he’s oblivious, which makes them relatable bitches in my book.”

“The idiot hasn’t even noticed his own abilities in herbal magic. What made you think he would recognize a couple of fairies?”

“The fact the Prince was in full fae mode?”

Dee groaned. “He really is oblivious. Anyways, what are we going to do about this situation?”

Remy slumped onto the couch, feeling their magic returning to them as people started to wake up. “Honestly? I’m not sure. From the sound of it, they are going out of their way to not show they are fae to him. Maybe we should just keep an eye on him?”

“I guess that’s the best we got…”

A loud crash shot through the house, cutting him off. Remy let out a breath, only to see a bright yellow snake on the carpet where Dee had been. They paused before just losing themselves to laughter. After the stress and worry of the past night, seeing Dee startled into shifting was apparently the funniest thing to the sandman.

Remus appeared, already apologizing about something but cut off seeing the coiled snake in his living room. He let out a squeal before grabbing Dee and curling up with the snake on the couch. The snake’s tongue poked out and touched the other’s cheek before cuddling in closer to his husband.


	12. An Invite and a Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween is a month away, so Virgil asks some fae if they want to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: cat/dog fight, dog tries taking a bite, implied cat death. Nothing graphic, most of it takes place off screen. Please be safe, Fanders!

“Happy first day of Fall, Vee!” Patton squealed, stomach side up so that he could stare into the sky while mindlessly weaving a flower crown together.

Virgil smiled at him. “Happy fall to you as well, Pat.”

He took a seat next to the advisor, who glanced up to smile at him before going back into his book. Virgil couldn’t help but think about how amazing this past month has been with Pat, Lo, and even the indirect contact with Ro. Virgil wasn’t sure what they were, but he was happy with it.

“So, what’s new today, kiddo?” Pat asked, flipping so that he was facing Virgil and Logan, but continued to work on a flower crown.

Virgil groaned. “Remy is already starting to try and rope me into planning for their Halloween party.”

“Aww, do you not like Halloween?” Pat asked.

“I love Halloween. Creepy decorations, pretending not to be a sentient ball of anxiety, all of it. I just don’t like having to socialize at some dumb party with people who act all snobbish, knowing that I work with plants rather than people. Especially a huge party that Remy plans. Those usually involve the _entire_ town, too much alcohol, and I usually just end up in a corner, nursing my single drink for a couple hours until Remy is dealing with a drunk Remus and I can make my escape for the night.”

“I’m sorry, kiddo. I get the awkwardness of it, if not the full experience. We deal with more formal dinner parties because of RoRo.”

Virgil paused before, hesitantly, asking. “Would you guys like to come? With me? I’m sure you and Roman would enjoy the games. There probably isn’t much that you’d like though, Lo. Actually, forget it. It’s a dumb idea.”

Logan shut his book, giving up on the pretense that he was reading (how could he when there were two really cute and interesting beings in front of him?) “Contrary, there may not be a major singular thing I might enjoy, but sending time with three people who mean the world to me?”

Patton raised an eyebrow at him. “You’re already planning strategies on how to beat RoRo at whatever games there will be, aren’t you, Logan?”

Logan went a bit pink which caused Virgil to laugh. “Glad to hear that the nerd has a competitive streak. That was a bit too sweet without having been an unconscious admission for Logan.”

Logan went a bit redder. “I do mean it, though.”

Patton smiled at him. “We know, Logan. You show your love through non-verbal means. It’s just you don’t usually admit something like that aloud unless you were thinking out loud or covering a more selfish reason. It’s OK, we still love you lots, LoLo!”

Logan buried his head into his hands before his muffled voice said, “I love you too.”

“So, does that mean… Did you…” Virgil wasn’t sure what all this added up to.

Thankfully, Patton understand his confusion. “While we should probably ask Ro whether he would like to or not, Lo and I would love to go with you!”

“Awesome! I mean, yeah, that’s cool…” Virgil’s heart was racing.

Pat grinned at him. “Unfortunately for you, though, that does mean you are a little more invested in helping your friend plan this party.”

“Yeah, well, I’m just going to be on decorations…”

_“Mrrrraaaaaaaw!”_

Before the three of them could react, a black and white cat appeared with the yippy dog that has been terrorizing Virgil for months snarling and trying to bite it. Virgil was on his feet and grabbing a stick before the dog could get more than two nips in. He swatted at the dog, trying to give the cat a second to run.

“DON’T YOU DARE HURT MY PRECIOUS LITTLE SNICKERDOODLE!” a voice shouted at him as he managed to get the stick in the dog’s mouth.

The cat shot towards Logan (not noticing another being in that direction) before the dog managed to get the stick out of its mouth and started after the cat again. A hand grabbed the end of the stick Virgil was using and ripped it out of his hand. He spun and saw that woman again.

“How dare you try and hurt my little baby! I’ll have the police on you this time, you hooligan!”

“Your dog is trying to eat that cat! I was keeping the dog from it. Get your priorities straight, lady!”

“My little Bonbon was attacked by that menace! Sweet Noodles would never attack anyone without cause!”

“This arguing is not productive in the current situation, as both the cat and dog are now out of sight.” Logan’s voice cut off the woman.

She turned, probably about to give him his own rant, but stopped short. Almost as if some switch had flipped, she started giving what she probably thought was a cute little giggle as she ran a hand through her hair. Virgil pretended to gag at how quickly she went from angry to flirty. Logan barely kept himself from grinning in agreement. She even tried to (flirtingly) _touch his arm_. He took a step back and she made a little pouting face she probably thought was attractive. _Roman is going to have a blast when he hears about this_ , Logan thought sourly.

“Oh, hello there, handsome. Didn’t see you there.” She insistently stuck out her hand, offering it to Logan, as if she expected him to kiss it and declare his undying love for her ( _Logan really needs to stop spending so much time listening to Roman’s fantasies)_. “I haven’t seen you around before. I’m Karen Smith, and you are?”

 _What is it with humans these days, just offering their full names to anyone?_ Logan couldn’t help but think as he (finally) smiled at her. “Well, Karen Smith, I’m not interested, and you should probably go find your dog. Now, run along.”

 _Woah, Lo’s eyes flash like that when hit by the sun?_ Virgil’s gay brain wondered as Logan’s eyes flashed with magic.

The woman blinked in confusion before walking off in the direction of her yippy dog. Virgil didn’t have time to notice her lack of argument as he recovered from his blinded gay heart. Unfortunately, though, they heard a heartbreaking cat cry that suddenly cut off. Virgil’s heart skipped a beat hearing it, now desperately thinking that if he’d just done something more…

“Vile woman,” Logan stated. “I don’t even want to think about what she has taught that poor creature that it became so _entitled_ …”

“Logan…” Pat said, giving the other a hard look. _You just cast magic in front of Virgil!_

Logan shrugged before glancing at the third who looked close to an anxiety attack. _He’s oblivious, he wouldn’t have noticed._ “Virgil, can you breathe with me?”

He brought the anxious man away from the attack, gently reminding him that he tried, which was more than most people would have done. It hurt Logan to see that a thing like this could give such a sweet being terrible anxiety. He kind of wished that he had just sunk the random woman into the Netherlands between the Land of the Fae and the human realm, rather than just a minor curse. _At least she’ll enjoy spilling her secrets rather than screaming at other people,_ he thought.

Trying to relieve some of the bad energy around them, Patton asked. “So, which of those names do you think the puppy’s name was? He looks like a Noodles.”

Virgil focused on the question rather than his own spirling thoughts. “Honestly, I have never heard that woman use the same name twice for the dog, so, I’m not even sure she knows what she named it.”

Before Patton could reply with a joke or something, he heard a soft noise that shouldn’t have been there. “Hey, uh, guys? Do you hear those little squeaks?”

The other two glanced at each other before the three of them were looking around for the source. It took them a moment before finding it: a tiny black fuzzball. Logan barely managed to pick it up before Patton could. His heartbeat picked up as he picked out the tiny ears, nose, and mouth. The cat had been running with her kitten…

“Look at it!” Patton squealed under his breath. “It’s so tiny! LoLo, can we…”

“You are allergic to cats, Patton.”

“I only get a bit of sniffles! Come on Lo!”

“We also don’t have time for tending to a cat.”

Virgil reached out and gently took it from Logan. “If Patton is allergic to cats, it’s probably best I take it. I can take it to the vet, see what we can do for it.”

“It’s not that bad!”

Virgil felt the tiny thing shaking in his hand. He pulled it close to his chest and the kitten snuggled closer to him. He realized that the poor thing was freezing. Carefully, he pulled off his hoodie and wrapped the kitten in the warm cloth. It snuggled in deeper before settling down.

“A kitten that small needs a lot of attention. You should head back to town and get it to the vet soon.” Logan stated, watching the other.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’ll head back now. I’ll let you know how it all goes. See you guys later.”

After making sure that the kitten wouldn’t accidentally slip out somewhere, Virgil cradled the little bundle and started his walk back. Pat and Lo could hear him softly talking to the kitten as if his voice would keep the tiny being calm. With the kitten distraction gone, Patton decided to reprimand Logan.

“Alright, I get it, Patton. Yes, she threw her name at me. Yes, I used magic in front of the guy we agreed we weren’t going to tell. She was annoying and Virgil has told me several things about her, so I do not feel any regret regarding a curse that will eventually teach her to shut her mouth. It wasn’t even anything major. Virgil also didn’t mention it, so he probably didn’t even notice it anyway.”

Pat let a small grin appear. “He really is oblivious, sometimes. Let’s head home. I doubt VeeVee will be coming back today.”


	13. His Obliviousness is GROWING

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil learns to take care of a kitten and Dee sees the new trick Virgil learned.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Virgil looked inside the animal shelter’s window.

Both the vet and the animal shelter were closed. Their hours even showed they’d be closed tomorrow. Virgil groaned as he pulled out his phone. He stared at it for a moment, wondering what he should do. Finally, he decided to call the next animal expert he knew.

 _“Who do I need to beat up for you, Anx?”_ Dee answered, promptly.

“No one? I have a tiny kitten and the animal shelter is closed. I need help and you’re the only one I know who actually knows how to keep animals alive.”

_“OK, I get it, Remus is weird. No need to call him an animal, Virgil.”_

“Your snakes, Dee. You have also kept a bunch of different snakes alive. I didn’t say anything about Remus. Which means… Who do _I_ need to beat up for taunting Remus?”

There was a pause from Dee before he sighed. _“Forget about it. How old is the kitten, Anx?”_

“I’m not sure?”

_“Are its eyes open?”_

“I don’t think so?”

 _“Come on over. Stop by a pet store and find some supplemental kitten milk. If the kitten hasn’t opened its eyes, it hasn’t been weaned yet and will need feeding. You can probably Google search what kind and where to find some.”_ There was some static before Virgil heard Dee state _“Remus, for the love of… Where are your… Why… Go put your clothes back on! I don’t care if you like the breeze. Anx is coming over. No, I don’t think he wants to see your butt either, now clothes!”_

The call ended, leaving Virgil mildly concerned about heading over to their house. Still, he did look up cat formula and checked the stores around for it. He was lucky to find that it was in the grocery store on the way to Dee’s, rather than the pet store a couple of blocks out of his way. Virgil hummed to the kitten as he walked, trying to keep it calm.

He got a cart and set the bundle in the top kid seat thing. He went as quickly as he could to the pet aisle. He grabbed a can of the cat formula. Then after checking the website again, grabbed a bottle-feeding kit, a little pet warming blanket, a kitten syringe (in case the kitten was too small for the bottle), some wipes, kitten flee shampoo…

“Excuse me, sir.” A voice said. “But we do not allow pets in the store unless they are service animals.”

Virgil jumped and looked at the employee. “I’m sorry! I just found the kitten and am taking it to a friend!”

His mind was freaking out though. _Please don’t kick me out. I don’t want to be banned from a store. Please just pretend you don’t see anything and go away!_

Warmth ran through Virgil, almost like a hot flash. The employee’s eyes went wide as their pupils dilated. Virgil watched in shock as the employee blinked a couple of times, before covering the head of the kitten, who managed to worm out a little. The employee then turned and walked away as if nothing had happened. As soon as the employee was gone, the warmth left Virgil, sending a chill down his back.

He quickly went to pay and left, wondering what had happened. A couple of small cries from his hoodie stopped those concerns as he picked up his pace for Dee’s place. Dee answered the door and let Vee in, who was relieved to see that Remus was fully-clothed. Dee walked Virgil to his office, which was really just the spare room he used for housing the tanks for the snakes he kept.

“So, let’s see it,” Dee said, plopping into a giant seat behind his desk.

Virgil set the bundle down then set aside the bag. He opened the bundle to reveal the small black fuzzball. It let out another squeak as it was pulled from its warm nest. Dee pulled over one of his heaters and set it up so the tiny kitten wouldn’t get cold. He concentrated on the kitten before moving back, startled.

“A familiar?”

Virgil looked at him, confused. “What do you mean ‘familiar’? It’s a tiny kitten. It can’t be familiar.”

“It…uh… feels familiar. To when I was dealing with my first snake hatchling. Forget it. The kitten needs feeding. Let’s see what you got.”

Soon, Virgil was carefully syringe feeding the kitten as Dee attempted to figure out how old the kitten was from online searching. Dee nearly burst into angry sarcastic laughter seeing how much information there was for newborn kittens compared to what he had found for dealing with newborn snakes. _Shows what the world prefers from the animal world_ , he thought sourly.

“Alright, my guess is that it’s about a week old. Which means feeding every two to three hours, lots of warmth, and washing its butt so it doesn’t explode. You might ask Remy if they can watch it until the vet or shelter open up, as that coffee-guzzling bitch rarely sleeps.”

“Neither do I, Dee. I feel responsible for it already.” Virgil said, letting the kitten rest before trying to tempt it with more food. “I couldn’t get that dog to stop chasing its mother, so I guess this is how I can clear my conscience over it.”

Dee shifted uncomfortably. “If you’re sure.”

“No, I’m not, but I couldn’t stop the dog that got its mother, so…”

There wasn’t much Dee could offer to counter that, regardless of how much the kitten’s magical energy rubbed him the wrong way. He printed off the official care instructions from the university site for Virgil to pour over later. Vee managed to get the kitten to drink a bit more before Dee helped him learn the little tricks he read from the various articles. Dee kept an eye on the kitten’s energy, making sure that it wasn’t upset with something, but otherwise, he was just kind of winging it.

 _Why did this idiot think I’d know how to deal with cats when I’ve only really interacted with reptiles?_ Dee bit his tongue though, as he could understand Virgil’s thinking. If he were to seek out animal help, better go to the person who has any sort of training rather than someone without any. _Imagine Remy trying to show this idiot how to care for a kitten._

“What’s so funny, Dee?”

“Remy screaming bitch and gurl at the kitten, not understanding what to do. Was thinking why a snake-handler was your choice and then that popped into my head.” Dee answered, still laughing. “And before you start rambling, yes, I get it, as much as I am questioning why I’m standing here wiping a kitten’s butt, I do get why you called me over Remy or Emile.”

Virgil grinned at him. “Remy doesn’t have the same understanding of animals as you do. Probably would put some coffee on a spoon and feed that to the poor thing.”

Dee blinked as the mental image of Remy now holding a mug of coffee out to the kitten screaming _‘drink it, bitch’_ appeared. “I can see that.”

Virgil looked over everything. “Do you think I have everything I need?”

“Anx, it’s a baby. It sleeps, eats, and poops. There is little you need to freak out about. Just keep it warm, feed it, wipe its butt and you’ll be good.”

“Did I hear butt!” Remus screamed, bursting into the room.

In quick succession, Virgil jumped with a shout and Remus seemed to be thrown back a little where he tripped and fell straight at a giggling face. With that, Remus was on the ground and Virgil’s eyes were shut as he tried to breathe. Dee felt ice run through his body, shocked at what just happened. _Did Virgil just perform magic?_

“Mmm, buy me dinner first!” Remus giggled, sitting up.

Virgil looked at Remus. “Dude, how many times do I have to tell you! I will put up with everything else, but please stop appearing with a shout!”

He giggled. “Sorry VeeVee! Got excited!”

Virgil rubbed his face, taking in a deep breath. “It’s alright, Remus. Just please try to remember. I’ve had two people scream at me today, I really don’t think I can take much more.”

“I’ll be right back, you two.” Dee said, before rushing to the bedroom.

_[HissHissMFs]: Anx’s powers are surfacing. Has kitten with magic, may be a familiar. We may need to tell him. [sent at 1954]_

_[Trenta4Sandman]: shit. [sent at 1955]_


	14. It's a Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's friends discuss what they should do about their friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: mention of past abuse

“So, what are we going to do about Vee?” Emile asked once Dee finished explaining what had happened at his place.

Dee slumped in his seat. “Well, obviously, he’s going to have to be told about magic.”

Remy sipped their coffee, thinking. “I don’t look forward to that discussion. Are you positive that it was Virgil though? Maybe Remus tripped.”

“I was staring right at Virgil when Remus barged in.”

“I heard butts!”

“I still don’t understand why you two haven’t told him. You are acting like Virgil knowing about magic will be dangerous or something,” the glance between Remy and Dee made Emile’s heart sink. “Tell me.”

“Normally, witches are granted power from some sort of deal. Occasionally, one is born with their own magic, who are known as Natural Witches. Normally, no big deal as the likelihood of a natural witch training their own power is kind of low. Yet, Virgil’s power has been steadily growing stronger since those three fairies came into the picture. We don’t know exactly what those fairies have been teaching him or showing him. What I saw though was a form of directed power, where Virgil’s power was properly invoked and used. That means someone had to have shown Virgil how to use that kind of power.”

Remy set their coffee aside, seeming to decide on something as Dee chattered. “Look, Emile, you know I’ve been best friends with Virgil since we were teenagers. I am probably the only person in the world who knows Virgil’s history. And that history has some nasty haunters. One of those haunters is a hunter of the supernatural. One of the best hunters and an even worse father. That bastard tortured Virgil for years before he ran away, trying to force some spark of magic from the poor boy.”

Even Remus was silent, shocked that Remy was spilling things they had refused to even acknowledge knowing about. “Why did I insist we keep Virgil in the dark? Because when he finds out that he has magic, things are going to be very bad. Magic, the supernatural, all of it are associated with torture, years of imprisonment, neglect, and most of all evil. He will suppress his magic and in the process harm himself. He has the potential to be one of the most powerful witches to ever live. Magic and energy like that don’t do well being ignored. He’ll cause mayhem, not on purpose of course, but it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy of ‘magic is bad, I have to hide it. I didn’t hide it well enough and now people are hurt, so magic is bad’. Yes, I’ll joke with Dee about him being oblivious, but that ignorance is what has kept him safe and mentally sane. He could grow and learn more about plants and think that his skills were from all his studies. Maybe one day he’d finally realize, but not while he doesn’t have the experience of good magic. All he currently has is a connection of magic and pain, regardless of the minor uses he’s used with his plants. So, yes, Emile. Virgil knowing about his magic, and the fact two of his closest friends have hidden their own magic from him will be dangerous. His own past and his fear that two people he trusts were lying to him will be bad”

Stunned silence followed this as they stared at Remy, shocked. What was there to say? Emile could see why Remy pretended to not know anything. From the sound of it, when they met Vee, Vee would have still been a bit of a mess. He knew that Remy and Virgil supported each other while out on their own. To think that Remy was helping Vee carry all _that_ …

“Don’t you bitches dare tell him I said any of that. I promised I would keep it secret.” Remy stated.

Dee awkwardly cleared his throat. “While I can see your point on that, my major concern is that _someone_ taught Virgil that little mental trick and there happens to be a set of three fairies who we have no information on, no idea what they want to Anx, and have no way of being sure that they aren’t trying to use him for something.”

Emile looked at Dee. “Why are you so sure that someone taught him it?”

“Because without a teacher, Virgil would still be building upon his plant magic. Someone taught him that and that was a classic fae trick. Natural Witches are one of the most powerful beings because they can learn magic from all other beings.”

“Why not trick him into seeing his plant stuff is magic?” Remus suddenly suggested. “An insistent thought that he can’t shake but he sees no harm in it. Just make information readily available and his anxiety will make him overthink. If you dump a box of information on him, he’ll sort through it and pick up little things as he does.”

Remy glanced at Dee. “Maybe? Focus on witches, but throw in some about sandmen, shifters, and fairies. Knowing him, if we just leave a box on his kitchen table with it all and no information about who left it, he will be suspicious but he’ll eventually look through it. Then when he seems to start picking out things from the info on himself, those fairies, and us, we can admit the truth. He’ll be furious we kept it, but we can work to make it easier for him.”

“As much as I hate the idea, I have to agree. I can put off working on my stuff and pull things.” Dee sighed.

_Knock. Knock._

Remy knit their eyebrows, glancing at Emile. “You expecting anyone, babe?”

“You did invite Vee over once he was done with the kitten situation to work on Halloween planning.”

“Ah, shit, forgot about that.” Remy glanced at Dee as they went to the door. “You should be able to find plenty of information. I’m sure it’ll be no issue.”

They opened the door to see Virgil standing there, with his jacket cradled in his arm. “Gurl, please tell me you don’t…”

“Shelter was over max occupancy.” He answered, entering the house. “They called around and so are the other shelters. I overheard a couple of options and noped my way out of there. Vet says that she’s officially nine days old though. Sorry, I brought her with me, but she’ll need feeding soon and I couldn’t just leave her home alone as dealing with your party planning usually takes hours. Also, I may have already fallen in love with her and have started my life as a living ‘you got a cat _how’_ meme. She won’t leave my jacket, I promise. I know I should have called but I was still reeling from everything from the shelter and the vet and didn’t really think about it as I came over. If it’s a problem I can just go home, and we can video chat or reschedule. You look upset so I take it I should just leave. Sorry.”

“Bitch, sit your dumbass down. I’m not upset, I didn’t expect a freight truck of words to slam into me and am trying to catch up.” Remy answered, shutting the door.

Emile smiled at him. “So, you’re going to keep it. I think that will do you good, Vee. Animal companions have been proven as beneficial for those with mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Have you decided on a name yet?”

Virgil sat on the ground and set the bundle into his lap. “No, honestly, I kind of came to the decision I was keeping her after I overheard the word ‘euthanize’ from the shelter. Asked if they knew a vet who would be willing to see her today, they made a call, got me in, and now I’m here.”

“Jinkies, that’s a day,” Emile commented.

“Yeah, oh well. So, why is everyone here? I didn’t miss some important group meeting text, did I?”

“Oh yeah,” Dee drawled, managing to keep Virgil from seeing the panic on Emile and Remy’s faces. “Party planning is obviously important. Remy convinced me that they were dying when they texted to get my ass over here only to discover I’m once again on researching stuff again, like every year.”

 _Dee is too good at deception_ , Remy thought before jumping on the story. “Gurl, it’s a Halloween party! Of course, it’s important. I can’t through the best party in town if my bitches don’t help.”

Remy and Dee started screeching at each other as Emile moved to look at the kitten. Remus joined Remy and Dee, making their conversation at least twice as loud. Virgil gave them a pointed eye roll that made Emile laugh. He pulled the kitten out of the jacket to show Emile, who cooed over the baby.

“It’s a she?” Emile waited for Virgil’s nod before continuing. “What about the name Raven for her?”

The two of them sat discussing kitten names, ignoring the other three. Unfortunately, as Remy went to get more coffee, their limbs decided that now would be the perfect time to unlock and send them onto the ground. With their muscles suddenly relaxed, their dumb brain went ‘nap time’ and they were out.

Emile went over to make sure Remy hadn’t hurt their head before sighing. “I guess they forgot to take a nap earlier.”

He grabbed the blanket laying on the couch and laid it over the sleeping figure. _Narcolepsy stinks_ , he thought as he turned from his partner, letting them lay there, asleep. _If only Remy offered more than a ‘just leave me be and let me sleep’ as an option for when this happened._

“Well, guess it’s quiet time. We might as well get to work. Give them something to do when they wake up.” Virgil commented.

While their Halloween party ‘tradition’ was only about four years old, they all knew their major jobs by now. Emile and Remus drew up plans for food and games. Virgil sketched out decorations. Dee started looking up prices for their normal supplies while thinking over what the haunted house would entail.

_Ting!_

Virgil grabbed his phone while the three others looked at him in surprise. He smiled as he sent a text back to whoever and set the phone aside. He noticed the confusion from his friends, but that was also the same time Remy decided to sit up, rubbing their eyes.

“Bitch, who you texting over there?” Remy asked as they stood up.

“Uh Lo… Logan.” Virgil answered, awkwardly. “I invited them to the party, but they were going to check with Roman before agreeing to come or not. Logan just texted to tell me that Roman agreed. Well, technically Lo said that ‘Ro has screamed his agreement so loudly that I am no longer able to hear out my left ear’ which is pretty much Ro’s entire existence.”

Remy blinked before answering. “So, does this mean you’re finally going to introduce us to their mysterious gays you pulled out of nowhere?”

“If things continue to go well between us, yeah.” Virgil looked at his sketches. “Alright, Queen Bitch, get over here and approve my designs.”


	15. Operation Get Vee to Stop Being Oblivious is... Go???

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reactions to The Plan (tm) and its results.

_Mew…_

_Mew…_

_Meew…_

“OK, OK, I’m up, Gala.” Virgil muttered.

He scooped the kitten up and went to get her a bottle. The tiny kitten started to purr as he heated the kitten formula. He was happy seeing her eyes curiously looking around. She was growing literally every day, and Virgil was proud to watch. _Is this what adopted parents feel like?_ She happily started drinking her milk once he offered her the bottle.

He slumped onto the couch before noticing the box. He blinked, thinking back to what he was doing earlier… which was dealing with plants. _Where’d the box come from?_ He adjusted the kitten to open it, considering that Dee may have swung by earlier to drop off supplies. And… nope, just a bunch of papers. Virgil shut the box, grimacing at the weird grimy feeling of dirt or what, sand?

“Problem for morning-Virgil.” He muttered.

Once the kitten was taken care of for the next three hours, Virgil curled up on the couch with her and went back to sleep. After another couple of hours, he dealt with the kitten needing more food before reopening the box and looking through it. It was a bunch of print-outs about witches, fairies, shapeshifters, sandmen, and who knew what else.

“Seriously? OK, this has to be Remus.” He commented to Galaxy. “I wonder how long it took him to print all of this out.”

He started to sort the pages into different piles, deciding that he could probably take the fairy pile to discuss with Logan. Galaxy was chewing on the papers he placed in the witch pile. He rolled his eyes at the kitten but continued working through the stacks. Once the box was sorted, he noticed that the witch pile was double the other piles. Shrugging, he put the fairy pile in his bag and stared at the other piles.

“Maybe I could give these to Remy. It’d give them a laugh.” He commented to Gala, who only tore a page in response. “OK, you can have that pile. This one will go to Remy. I’m not sure about the rest.”

Virgil shrugged before taking the kitten into the greenhouse to work for a bit. He’d just finished another round of feeding for Gala when a knock startled him. He set Gala on the couch before answering the door to find Remy with a giant box of supplies in their arms. Virgil let them in.

“Cool, I’ll get started on that later,” Virgil said once Remy set the box on the table.

They raised their eyebrow at the mass of papers lying around the living room. “Doing some research here, Anx?”

“Nah, I think Remus left a box of conspiracy stuff yesterday. Which, reminds me.” Virgil picked up a stack. “Thought these would amuse you.”

Remy took the stack. “I’m not sure Emile would like me bringing a stack of conspiracy papers into our house, Vee.”

Virgil shrugged. “Then toss the stack into the recycling. There’s no way Remus needs this much paper. He’d probably eat it all.”

“Are you sure all of this is from the rat? I wasn’t even aware he could read.”

“We’ve been sending each other conspiracy stuff about the supernatural world a lot the past year. This just has the feel of something he’d do. Gala has already claimed the witch stack as her new teething toy.”

“Gala?”

Virgil waved at the sleeping kitten. “I named her Galaxy, Gala for short. Did I not tell you lot her name?”

“It’s possible you told the rest while I was out. We’ve been working on Halloween prep a lot.”

“Possibly,” Virgil plopped back onto the couch. “Anyways, if you have no interest in reading that stuff, please throw it in the recycling for me. I’d appreciate it. Too much paper.”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Gotta head out though. Just came by to drop off the final craft supplies box for decorations.”

Virgil waved them goodbye and they were out the door. Remy was actually proud of how long they managed to keep themselves together. They managed to get all the way home before dumping the stack of papers on the coffee table and just let out a screech that scared Emile half to death.

“THAT OBLIVIOUS DUMBASS!”

****

Logan wanted to scream. Virgil was brilliant with plants, space, books, and so much more. Yet, this guy comes to their hill with a giant stack of facts about the fae and thinks the entire thing is funny. Logan managed to keep himself together, promising to read through the papers later, before going home to flop onto the couch, and just scream.

“Uh oh, what’s up LoLo? I haven’t seen you like that since Roman was dared to eat a brick.” Patton commented.

In response, Logan just tossed his partner his bag. Patton was confused as he pulled out a bunch of papers. Roman moved over to peek as well. They looked over the first page curiously before looking at Logan, confused.

“What’s so bad about this? Usually, you have a book, not print-outs, but this isn’t unusual.” Pat said.

Logan muttered into the couch. “Virgil gave me the stack, talking about his friend giving him a giant box of papers like that about different beings.”

“Oh…”

“Wait, do you think that his friend is trying to tell him that we’re fae?” Roman asked.

Logan turned his head to look at his partners. “From the sound of it, the friend is trying to get him to realize the supernatural beings he has around him. He talked about there being a stack on shapeshifters, sandmen, and witches.”

“So not only ratting us out but themselves,” Roman commented.

“Wait, if they are trying to get Vee to acknowledge different beings, does that mean that Vee has a sandman and a witch as friends as well? I mean, why else include them in a box that’s full of proof that fae and shapeshifters exist?” Patton asked.

“That’s… actually an interesting point, Pat.” Logan said, sitting up. “Maybe? I didn’t think of that. I was a bit busy trying not to smack him with the stack of papers for being so oblivious.”

Roman tapped his knee, thinking. “Hey, what if… what if Virgil is actually a Natural Witch and they are trying to tell him that without saying it?”

Logan took the stack of papers back, quickly skimming a couple of them. “That would explain quite a bit, such as us thinking that he was already another fairy’s witch. But that leaves more questions. Such as why now, as from what I’ve gathered, Virgil and his friends have been friends for years.”

“Maybe because of our date?” Patton offered.

“Or, maybe… Virgil is starting to perform real magic.” Logan answered, worry now touching his face. “I think he may have actually watched me cast that little trick on the Karen Smith and used it. If he’s a Natural Witch, it’s possible as they are capable of seeing something cast and understanding how to do so themselves.”

They sat for a moment, each thinking about what all this meant before Patton finally asked. “So, what are we going to do, then? If his friends are pushing him to acknowledge the supernatural, he’s going to find out that we’re fae.”

“We were discussing the best way to ask him to properly join our relationship and become our witch.” Logan offered, weakly.

Roman pursed his lips. “I may have an idea.”

****

“And back to the chewing,” Virgil commented to Gala. “Come here, you. Food time.”

As he fed the kitten, he looked over the paper she’d chosen as her teething toy. _How to tell if someone is a witch in today’s world_. He huffed, skimming the article. Galaxy stared at him as he skimmed it as if expecting him to do something about it. He finally set it back on the stack and gave the kitten his full attention again.

“Guess I’m a witch. Dark clothes, connection to nature, dislikes crowds.” Virgil laughed. “That’s my entire personality.”

Galaxy may have only been two and a half weeks old, but even she was already done with Virgil’s obliviousness. But, she was warm and there was food to be eaten, so she decided there were better things to worry about.

****

“Virgil did what?”

“Handed me the entire stack of sandman papers. Thought I’d get a laugh out of it.”

Dee shut his eyes, groaning. “I’m starting to think that even if we specifically tell him, he’s just going to think it’s a joke.”

“Give it time, DeeDee!” Remus stated, grinning. “There were too many papers for him not to read one or two of. The idea will settle in his brain and dig its way to his conscious thought like the image of Aunt Patty…”

“NOOOO!” The two beings screeched, cutting Remus off, though his work was done as that terrible image was once again brought to their thoughts.

“For once, trust me on this, Dee,” Remus stated, usually serious. “Virgil overthinks everything. All he needs is one or two articles on witches and the idea will fester into his thoughts. He’ll finally break and start digging through what info he has, desperately trying to pretend that this absurd idea isn’t consuming his thoughts. Finally, he’ll mentally accept the idea and try to prove to himself that it isn’t bad. All before he considers admitting it to any of us.”

Remy glanced at Dee, “and I thought you were the devious mastermind.”

Dee shifted awkwardly. “Usually, I am. There are times, particularly with mind tricks, where Remus is better though.”

“NOW GIVE ME MY DEODORANT!”

“Aaaaand he’s back.”


	16. Remy, Say Hello to Oblivious's Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan, Patton, and Roman finally get to meet Remy. (Halloween Part 1)

“Come here,” Virgil said to Galaxy.

She moved over and was moved to the other worktable. She happily started trying to eat a leaf while Virgil looked over a plant he was worried about. It was Halloween, he could be out looking at decorations or helping Remy and Emile prepare their house for the party. But instead, he was here carefully looking over a dead plant. It was the fourth plant to spontaneously die in the past week. Well, at least it distracted him from the things worrying his ever-anxious mind. _But what if it’s true…_

“Whoa! It’s so pretty in here!”

Virgil spun, accidentally knocking the plant onto the ground as he turned to see who broke in. Standing there were Logan, Patton, and Roman, all dressed as fairies. Roman was the same as the first night Virgil had met him: prince costume with red wings. Logan had dark blue wings while wearing a navy waistcoat, pretty much like some 18th-century royal advisor would wear. Patton had on a long silvery-blue dress, matching the same time period as Logan’s but he had a soft sky-blue pair of wings.

“What the hell!” Virgil gasped.

“You called out ‘come in’ after we knocked?” Roman answered, confused.

Virgil leaned against his worktable, trying to regulate his breathing. “Only thing I’ve said in the past hour was come here to Gala. I didn’t even hear a knock.”

“Oh, sorry Vee!” Patton said.

_“Bitch, you better not be ruining your costume, playing with dirt!”_

Taking a deep breath, Virgil rolled his eyes as Remy burst into the greenhouse. Not even aware of doing so, Logan put himself in front of Roman and Patton, feeling the sandman’s energy slam into him. _Looks like they were right about Virgil having a sandman for a friend._

“Gurl, that is not what the costume we got you. It was a perfect pick, gurl!”

Virgil snorted, “Pick? I had a choice? I remember distinctly saying that the only way I was wearing the dress you picked as a costume would be if you bought it. I said I wanted to be a vampire, but noooo, you insisted I be a witch.”

“And I bought it for you, along with other cute accessories. You were a vampire last year. Be glad I stopped Emile from doing another group costume. Now, go put the outfit on!”

Virgil rolled his eyes as he moved over to a pot being heated by three heaters. He carefully picked it up and poured the hot water into his thermos and setting a tea bag inside. He had set it up, thinking he’d be able to finish it before people showed up at his place, but he decided to just sip it on the way to the diner instead. The four beings watched in shock as he moved about.

“Bitch, are you actually using the cauldron I got you? I mean, it is usable, but I wouldn’t have thought you’d use it?”

“I don’t have anything else to heat water with right now.”

“Why?”

“Remus.”

Remy made a face. “Alright, say no more.”

“Uh, what?” Patton asked.

“Just use your imagination. The worst thing you can think of is usually tamer for this rat. Now, Anx, are you going to introduce your company?”

“Oh, right, sorry. Remy, this is Patton, Roman, and Logan. Pat, Lo, Ro, this is Remy.”

“Bitch, tonight I’m Crowley! Even you know Good Omens, gurl.”

Virgil looked over Remy, noting only small differences from their normal outfits. “Really? I thought you were my Fairy God-Bitch”

“Bitch, that’s my job the other 355 days of the year. Tonight, I’m Crowley.”

“Sure, good luck with that. I’ll go throw my costume on. Don’t kill each other. Galaxy is still too young to watch murder.”

The four of them glanced at the tiny kitten trying to clean her paw. While they were distracted, Virgil slipped through the door leading into the house and went to his bedroom to change. He scowled at the dress. It wasn’t a bad costume, but he really wasn’t comfortable dressing like a witch right now. _Don’t think of it right now, Anx._ Still, he pulled it on and went to finish his make-up. He couldn’t think of a good enough reason, even for himself, not to wear the costume. It was just an uneasy feeling about it. _But…_

There was an awkward tension in the greenhouse. Remy ignored the three fairies as they wiped the cauldron dry and started filling it with a small hand warmer under some bedding and herbs. With that, they summoned some sand to rub around the cauldron before harshly knocking on it, only to hear nothing. _That should keep the cauldron fairly quiet for the kitten during the party._

Once they were sure it would be comfortable, they pulled out a set of kitten-sized wings and a purple bow from their pocket. They carefully placed them on the kitten, cooing at how well behaved she was and how cute she looked. They kissed the precious kitten before placing her into the comfy cauldron. Gala stared up at them, just two blue eyes staring out from the void. Remy huffed, amused. Black cats were the cutest.

Logan cleared his throat. “So…”

Remy glanced at them, pleased to see they were at least a little nervous. “I have no interest in fighting but if you lot hurt Virgil, I will not rest until you have suffered. He is basically my little brother by now and I take my job as older sibling seriously, even if it is self-appointed roles. Clear?”

“We have no intention of hurting him either,” Roman answered calmly.

“If I may ask, were you the one to send him the box of information?” Logan asked, cautiously. “And if so, why?”

“I was in on the idea,” Remy answered, watching them carefully. “And his powers are starting to develop. I can tell you three have your own plan on trying to get through his oblivious mind. What is it.”

Patton shifted uncomfortably. “We were going to tell him the truth. We want to ask if he wants to join us as our witch.”

“You lot have his name, so why haven’t you forced him into it?”

“Only Patton received his name. First name. For something like that, we would need his full name to force him into it.” Logan answered.

Remy relaxed against the table. “I wish you lot luck with that. I’ve known that boy since he was thirteen. Even my fabulous fifteen-year-old self couldn’t get that out of him. Which, I assume means you lot need his voluntary acceptance to go around the name complication. He isn’t going to take the information kindly, I can tell you right now. We’ve been taking it slow since he got this kitten and we still haven’t even addressed that magic is real.”

“So, is he really just that oblivious then?” Patton asked, softly.

“Only towards magic-related stuff.”

Roman stared at Remy suspiciously. “Why are you being so open with this information, Sandman?”

“I really wish there was some accepted gender-neutral of sandman. Like Sandbeing. There are women who do this job. There are non-binary beings who do this job.” Remy commented before looking at the prince in the eyes. “I’m giving you this information so all of us are on the same page. We all care about Virgil and so if I can share something that keeps you three from accidentally hurting him, I will spill. I expect the same in kind from you lot. Our people can hate each other as much as they want, even if Sandmen are the most neutral in that fight. I don’t care about them. I care about my dumbass best friend who has too big a heart and too much untapped magic now revealing itself to the world for his own good.”

_“Mew!”_

“Thanks for having a gurl’s back, Galaxy.” Remy looked at the fairy in navy. “I assume you’re Logan. Meaning you’re the one who discussed fairies with him. Anything you want to spill?”

“Uh… No? Maybe ask you how you’ve not strangled him for his obliviousness, but otherwise no.” Logan answered, awkwardly.

“Gurl, you just earned a good place in my book.” Remy laughed.

“I am not a girl. Why do you keep using that? Please do not refer to me as a girl.”

“Boi, I call everyone, but those who prefer not to be called gurl, gurl” Remy immediately switched. “Still, Dee and I have been asking that same question for years.”

“Great, lots of help, thanks.” Logan deadpanned.

“Now, on to a different topic.” Remy turned to the prince. “Gurl, why in the name of every Gucci fashionista goddess out there are you in such drab clothing?”

“Excuse me, but my outfit is amazing, unlike your rags.”

“Bitch, I’m at least dressed as a TV show character. Did your personal clothing-designer take a day off on _Halloween_? At least those two look like traditional fairies.”

 _“Well, I’m not sure if I expected anything different._ ”

The four of them turned to look at Virgil. He had a black cocktail dress on with a rich violet corset tied with silver ribbon right in the middle of it. Trailing from all but the exact front of the corset was the same shade of violet, flowing material that would look a bit like a cloak as Virgil walked. The sleeves were a see-through black material that had silver protection runes stitched into them. His black pointed hat had a purple band around it with a silver flower rather than a buckle. Remy was pleased that he had included the long necklace with a crescent moon. He didn’t have the black platform heels Remy tried forcing on him, but rather slip on black flats.

“Wow,” three love-struck voice whispered.

“See, gurl. I told you they’d love it. I know what looks good on my babes.” Remy said proudly. “Now, let’s head to dinner. Dee and Emile should have finally convinced Remus to put pants on by now.”


	17. An Awkward Dinner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dee is a protective mother-hen of Virgil, so has no issue getting on three fairies' case about keeping him safe.

“Well, Anx just texted that all of them are heading over to the diner,” Dee commented. “Guess Remy didn’t kill the fairies.”

“Dee,” Emile stated, disapprovingly.

“Don’t give me that, Emile. I don’t like fairies, at all. They are a whole lot of troublemakers who use common courtesy to their own advantage.”

Emile folded his arms, frowning. “You will behave yourself, Dee. Virgil cares about these guys a lot. I don’t even know why you are so against them. You and Remy get along well enough. Remy hasn’t just brushed these guys aside as bad as you appear to have.”

“Remy isn’t a blasted fairy. Remy hasn’t had to deal with them face to face. Remy didn’t have their father taken from them in a deal to save their life.” Dee frozen, before letting out a frustrated hiss. “Look, we all have our own issues. I have my own issues with the fae in general. I will not behave myself, not for those bastards. Though, I will behave myself because of Virgil, and only because of him. Come on, let’s just go.”

They managed to tempt Remus away from a documentary on John Wilkes Booth and started to the diner. The trio heard Remy before they saw them. Emile relaxed about this entire ordeal hearing Remy sound so normal around the fairies. When Emile saw them, the fairy in red looked to be in a screeching match with Remy about something.

Dee and Emile had to keep themselves from staring at Virgil, who was talking easily with the two blue fairies. Remy had taken Virgil and Remus costume shopping so they didn’t know what their friend would be this year. Seeing him now, Dee was utterly convinced Remy was trying to help their friend have an interesting night with the fairies. Emile couldn’t help but think about how much of a witch Virgil looked like, even if he knew supernatural beings dressed normally most of the time. It was still hard not to have ‘Vee’s a witch! Vee’s a witch’ blaring through his head.

Remus squealed as he launched himself at the guy. “VeeVee! Did you bring me…”

Remy pulled a tube of what looked to be glue. “No, he didn’t. We do, however, have a nice offering of glue for the rat-man.”

Remus snatched it out of Remy’s hand and poured some onto his hand, looking at it with a child-like look of curiosity and wonder in his eyes. “It’s even got green sparkles!”

“That it does, buddy. Let me know if you like it.” Virgil stated, grinning at him. “I added some of your favorite clay into the mix, so it should be good.”

Remus wiped away a tear, smiling brightly. “You understand me, VeeVee.”

“Alright, food! Then we head to the house and throw open the doors for people!” Remy stated, clapping their hands, decisively.

They grabbed the gleeful Remus and dragged him in with them. Dee gave Virgil a look. “And what did you just give my husband that I’m now going to have to suffer through?”

“Edible glue. It’s used on cakes and things. Added in some edible glitter and used flavored water to make it.” Virgil answered, grinning. “Anyways, this is Logan, Patton, and Roman. You three, this is Dee and Emile. The rat-man who went with Remy is Remus.”

After an awkward exchange of greetings, they followed Remy and Remus into the diner. Remus was showing off the bottle of glue to the hostess and server, chattering about how it tasted like dirt and how his friends were the best. Dee rolled his eyes as he took Remus’s hand, not really surprised to see a quarter of the stuff already gone.

“OK, so let’s see, Tiff. We have three fairies, a witch, a matching pair of Crowley and Aziraphale–those are perfect for the two of you–, a snake, and a rat. Looks like dear Anx is now mixing his troublemaking groups.”

Tiffany looked between Remus and Dee. “I know there’s some horrible and perverted joke here, but I can’t think of it.”

Dee, with as straight a face as he could muster in a bad snake costume, answered. “Snakes eat rats, mice, and other small creatures.”

Tiffany went red but started laughing. “Ah, there it is.”

“Just out of curiosity, do you two ever _not_ work? I feel like every time we’re here, so are you two.” Remy asked.

Without missing a beat, Becca, in turn, asked. “Do you even work? I see you here and at the coffeehouse so often I feel like you are just everywhere I am, sometimes.”

Remy grinned. “Fair, I guess. Not sure you can call it much of a job, but I do have one as the night watch over at the library. No one is robbing a library whose most advanced piece of technology is a fifteen-year-old computer.”

Becca laughed as she got the menus. “I would have thought a high-end fashion boutique for you. Ah well, let’s get you guys set up.”

Soon, they were sitting down and sipping on their drinks, a tense silence meeting any attempt at conversation. Virgil desperately tried to keep the conversation, any conversation, going, which was _not_ his strong suit. Remy occasionally offered something, but they were busy dealing with messages from people asking last-minute questions, which they all knew would happen.

Once Becca had taken their orders, Virgil stood up, finding him near the end of his rope. “I’ll be right back. Need some fresh air.”

Not really considering the fact he left his crushes alone with his best friends, Virgil left the diner. He didn’t even notice grabbing the cauldron on his way out, but he shrugged it off. Taking a seat on the curb, worrying about the split among the group, he noticed that there were two bright blue eyes staring at him from the cauldron.

“Gala! How… When did you get in there?” he asked softly, pulling her out.

Her fur was warm, so he knew she was probably placed in there. After examining the cauldron, he also realized that the herbs provided further insulation and soundproofing. He would probably stress about the diner finding out that he had a cat with him once he went back in, but for the moment, he just cuddled the kitten, wondering what he was going to do. This was supposed to help him ease some of the absurd thoughts currently plaguing him but if the night was going to continue like this, maybe it would be better to be stuck with those thoughts. It would be at least nicer to Lo, Pat, and Ro if he called this entire date off.

Back inside, Dee finally spoke up to the three uncomfortable fairies. “I’m just going to spit it out while Anx is outside. I don’t like your kind. Don’t expect me to change that opinion. If you lot hurt a single hair on his head, may your deities save your pesky little wings from my bite.”

“Dee,” Emile said, softly.

Dee ignored him as he turned to Roman. “I have my eye on you in particular, Prince.”

“You can set your worries aside, shifter,” Logan stated, simply. “We have no intention of ever hurting Virgil.”

“And what about when you lot taught him that little mind trick?” Dee demanded.

Logan paled. “So, it’s true. He did figure out what I did to that annoying pest of a woman. Which also means he is a natural already.”

“You admit it then! You taught him it. What are your intentions with our friend, pests!”

“Hey, don’t talk to my partner like that, you fanged fiend!”

“I did not teach Virgil anything. He observed my actions and learned by example. It is a minor trick and I only used it because he was close to a panic attack because some Karen was screaming at him. We have no intentions with Virgil, other than the courting that we have already been doing.”

There was an awkward cough, which jolted the group into looking at the server, who began setting down dinner bread. “I’m not entirely sure what you lot are arguing about, but I do know that there is an upset guy outside the diner, talking to himself about ways to get you lot to get along. It may not be my place, but I know half of you well enough to be willing to say it. If you lot actually care about Virgil, get your acts together and play nicely. If it takes his leaving the building to bring himself away from an anxiety attack to get you lot interacting with each other, you should tell him about whatever you lot have against each other and explain why he can’t have his friends and partners in the same place.”

With that, she went back into the kitchen, leaving the group shocked. Patton jumped up and went to peek out the window before announcing, distressed, “He looks super upset.”

Remy set their phone down, deciding to answer whatever else after dinner. “But go off, I guess. Just get all of it out of your systems. It’s not like any of you have anything in common, such as theater.”

“LEAVE THEATER OUT OF THIS!”

Roman and Dee started at each other in shock before once again saying in unison. “You like theater?”

Remy grinned as they started ticking off things on their fingers. “There’s theater, animals, obviously all of us have to be a little interested in plants because of Virge. If nothing else, we can at least agree that Virgil is oblivious and good at giving too much of his heart out. He has shared a lot about the three of you with us, and I can confidently say he’s done the same to you three about us. Find something to talk about or else I hurt both sides for hurting my adopted little emo. Gucci? Good.”

Roman huffed and his wings flittered. “You’re one to say he’s oblivious. He even commented that our wings look real.”

“We’ve been dealing with him longer, so yes, we know he is oblivious,” Dee commented.

Patton took a seat and his eyes fell on an awkward-looking Emile. “Hey, so VeeVee told me that you like cartoons! What’s your favorite?”

Slowly, but surely, the group managed to start talking. By the time Virgil returned to the table, even Dee was in a discussion about snakes with Logan, more as a pretense of getting along than actually wanting to talk to the flying pests. _Only for Anx,_ Dee thought. Remy offered a wink at the confused man before taking a sip from their coffee, returning to discussing dreams with Remus and Roman. Virgil was so startled that he had to sit and stare for a minute before Emile and Patton got him to join their conversation.

The server came back with their food and was relieved to hear the chatter. She could see Anx relaxing as he got into the conversation. She couldn’t help the smile as she delivered the food. Anx was a sweetheart and he didn’t need his friends and partners arguing. She was a bit curious about how the group knew each other before Virgil introduced them all, but she decided that wasn’t her business.


	18. Pre-Party Mayhem and Discoveries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has lots of things on his mind.

Virgil wasn’t sure what happened when he went outside, but whatever did, he was grateful for it. The group paid and left the diner to walk over to Emile and Remy’s house, where most of the work for this party was already complete. Emile forced Remy into their room for a quick nap before the party while the rest of them finished what little was left.

“Can you guys hang these bats up? I want to walk through the haunted house and make sure that everything looks good.” He asked Logan, offering a bag of fake bats.

“Sure, no problem.” Logan peeked at one of the bats, wondering if humans actually thought these were scary.

Virgil went through the little haunted house, pleased that all the motion sensors and the mechanics that reset the props were functioning well. This was always his favorite part of the Halloween party. They put so much effort into it so that it ran seamlessly and it was always the talk of the party, in some way. While he couldn’t claim much about the mechanics (it was an old friend of Dee’s who took that challenge on), Virgil was always the one to do the artwork and that added something special to the haunted house.

With everything checked out, Virgil returned to the living room and froze. _Did Patton just fly?_ But the sweet man was on the ground when Virgil blinked. All of the bats were hanging up now, but there wasn’t a stool in sight to help them. Logan was rambling off facts about bats as he recycled the bag.

Virgil managed to slip into the bathroom before the trio noticed him. Virgil’s breathing was running as he talked his mind away from what he saw. _There’s no way Patton was flying. He just jumped! Yeah, he jumped and the wings reacted to the movement. There’s no way that Patton could… Magic isn’t real! Patton can’t fly! Those wings aren’t real. He just jumped and that was that. I’m not a witch._

He froze as that thought hit him full force. That was the issue he’s been struggling with. Gala had managed to get him to read about half that stack of papers out of curiosity and he couldn’t help but notice so many of them matched him. Magic isn’t real but he may be a witch. _If Patton could actually fly…_

No. He was just fooling himself. Magic is not real. Magic has never been real. Patton is not a fairy. He was not a witch. Magic was something from movies. Magic was sleight of hand tricks. Those random hot flashes followed by random actions from people were not connected. He’s just letting stress go to his head. Patton merely jumped and now Virgil is over-analyzing like he always did.

Virgil took a deep breath and left the bathroom. He went straight for the kitchen where Dee was finishing up some of the alcoholic beverages. Virgil didn’t even really think of what he was doing as he got himself a cup and filled it. Dee watched in surprise but didn’t stop him.

“Are you alright?” he asked, softly, once Virgil lowered the cup.

Biting his tongue, Virgil decided that he wasn’t going to worry Dee with meaningless fantasies. “Forgot about one of the things I set up. It popped up when I wasn’t expecting it. I’ll be fine.”

Dee gave him an unamused look, feeling every ounce of the lie for what it was. “Uh huh, sure. When you want to tell me the truth, I’ll be in the backyard, setting up the bar area.”

Virgil winced but didn’t say anything. Dee looked over the anxious man, wondering what’s gotten into him. Virgil rarely lied. He was an open book, which was probably how he got himself tangled with fairies. Yet, Dee couldn’t think of what there was to lie about right now. All the guy had been doing was working on the haunted house.

“You know we care about you. Whatever is eating at you, we won’t judge. I hope you know this, Virgil.” Dee said softly to him. “I won’t push, but you can come talk to me or Emile or Remy or even Remus about whatever. We may joke and make fun of each other, but if it matters to you, it matters to us.”

“I…I know, Dee.” He answered. “I… it’s just stupid and I _know_ it’s stupid.”

 _Bar be damned, Virgil comes first_ , Dee thought, waving to the dining table. “If it’s worrying you, it’s not stupid, Virgil. I am willing to listen. I won’t judge or tell the others if you want.”

Virgil paused before slowly saying, “well… I… things keep… I’ve… but…”

“Just rip it off like a Band-Aid if that’ll help, Vee,” Dee suggested.

He gulped but answered. “I think I may…”

“WHICH OF YOU BITCHES CUT… REMUS, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!”

Before Virgil or Dee could react, Remus was running through the kitchen with a fair chunk of Remy’s red wig. He was snickering as he escaped into the backyard, just before Remy appeared. The wig was cut off at weird angles and looked more like a nanny-gone-wild version of Crowley rather than the chill, lounging on a park bench Crowley Remy was going for.

They paused, noticing Dee’s murderous look and the vulnerable look in Virgil’s eyes, before saying. “Sorry, also, Dee, your husband is dead when I get my hands on him.”

With that, Remy was out the back door. The trio of fairies and Emile came into the kitchen, but there was no evidence of what just took place. Dee wanted nothing but to tell everyone to get lost, but he could feel Virgil’s mind lock-off whatever he’d been about to tell Dee. He waved at the door and watched as Emile went to check outside, where they could hear Remus screeching.

“Uh, are your friends always like that?” Roman asked Virgil, uncertainly.

“Always Remus,” he answered, offering an awkward grin. “The rest of us take turns dealing with his antics. He’s usually is calm when we give him weird things like edible glue or events where being weird is encouraged, but I guess he got bored.”

“Hmm,” Logan hummed before turning to the uncertain therapist. “Emile, I have a question for you, if you don’t mind my asking. I couldn’t help but notice the extensive amount of psychology books around. Are you a psychologist?”

Emile relaxed and smiled at him. “I do have a doctorate in psychology, but I am just a therapist.”

Logan’s eyes lit up. “Fascinating, would you mind if I ask some questions about your work? Virgil mentioned one of your atypical methods for him and I’d like to hear more about your methods.”

Emile nodded. “So long as you aren’t looking for personal advice, we can talk while finishing up the game section.”

“No advice. I just think the various sciences are fascinating.” Logan agreed, following the therapist down the hall.

“Well, we just lost our nerd,” Roman commented. “Hey, fanged fiend. What else needs doing?”

Dee looked over the Fae Prince. “You any good in a fight?”

Roman blinked. “I can hold my own. Why?”

“Go split up the sandman and rat,” Dee stated, picking up one of the drink dispensers. “Be careful of teeth.”

“From…which?”

“Both. Off you go.”

Roman didn’t look too sure but he followed Dee into the backyard, leaving Patton and Virgil in the kitchen. Patton was carefully watching Vee, as the poor boy went rigid at the word ‘sandman’ and has yet to relax. Patton tried reading Virgil’s face, but couldn’t pick out what he was thinking.

“Vee? Are you alright?”

“I…What? Oh… I…” Virgil was practically a fish out of water as he tried to string a coherent sentence together.

“Do you want a hug?” Patton offered, uncertainly.

Virgil paused for a moment before weakly nodding. Patton wrapped his arms around the shaking boy, barely keeping his wings from wrapping around him as well. It took another moment, but Virgil wrapped his arms around the other, trying to breathe. The necklace he was wearing seemed to burn, awkwardly trapped from where it swung under his armpit, but Virgil pushed it aside as his own warmth. Then he felt the twitch of muscles as the wings on Patton flittered, sending every worry Virgil had been struggling with straight to the front of his mind, realizing that it was true.

Patton was a fairy.


	19. New Party Game: Waiting Anxiety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil deals with this discovery while attending the Halloween party.

“Have you lot seen Anx? He doesn’t normally hide this early in the night.” Remy asked the three fairies, who were wondering where that guy was as well.

“No, we were getting ready to ask you lot that ourselves,” Logan answered.

Patton shifted, worriedly. “Last I saw of him was when the doorbell rang with the first group of people. He seemed a bit out of it right before people started to show. Maybe he is cooling off about something?”

Remy looked around the giant party, thinking. Dee had said that Vee was about to tell him something before them and Remus had interrupted. They had already checked all of Virgil’s normal hiding spots and the handful of unusual ones he occasionally chose. They were getting really worried. A party this big, Remy would keep an eye on the anxious man, occasionally sending one or two people he was comfortable with to talk with him. They had loosened their hovering this time as Virgil had invited three guys he really liked. Yet, he was now missing.

“Pat, you have his name, maybe you can locate him? I can go find him and see if he’s alright.” Logan suggested, looking at his partner.

“I don’t particularly like the idea of using his name, Lo,” Patton mumbled.

“While that is comforting to hear from a set of fae,” Remy commented, “I’m getting really worried and so would appreciate at least knowing where my dumbass friend is.”

Patton felt like twelve kinds of wrong, but he shut his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he whispered the name, reaching out the magic he rarely used. He told the worrying sandman who immediately bolted through the living room, wanting to see that Virgil was alright. Patton looked at Logan and nodded in the direction Remy had gone. Logan gave a simple nod and followed the sandman.

Roman wrapped an arm around Patton. “I’m sure it’s alright, Patty. We’ve dealt with Lo randomly going off for an hour or so. I’m sure it’s just something like that.”

Outside, Remy had stopped next to Dee, who was guarding the bar area. They managed to finally pick out a small light in the very corner of the yard. Logan joined as Remy let out a breath. Logan noted where the light was before grabbing two drinks. He started over and felt a shiver run down his back when the man’s eyes locked on him.

“Are you alright, Virgil? We were all getting a bit worried.” Logan asked, offering one of the drinks to him.

Virgil rubbed his eye, accepting the drink with his other hand. Gala gave a small huff from where she was perched on his shoulder but continued to snooze. Virgil locked his phone, hiding the website on fairies he was reading from. He had a couple more drinks than he usually did so he was feeling a bit fluffy, but that didn’t ease his worry about the things running through his mind.

“You mind?” Logan asked, waving at the spot next to him. “You found probably the only calm place in this giant mansion of a house.”

“Go ahead,” Virgil’s voice was a bit scratchy, which really worried Logan.

He sat and took a sip from the drink. “Virgil, you appear bothered by something. May I inquire what it is?”

Virgil considered the drink Logan gave him, but he knew that he’s already probably fallen for everything else, so took a sip. “No, not really in the mood to talk right now.”

“Alright, do you wish to talk about something else or silence?” Logan asked.

“Uh… silence, please.”

Logan nodded and leaned back against the wall, watching over the people dancing, talking, and whatever else humans did at parties. Compared to the mess that had been inside, where Roman wanted them to be, out here was nice and less hectic. Galaxy let out a yawn before jumping onto Logan’s shoulder. He smiled and gently scratched her ear.

“Why?”

Logan blinked in surprise as he looked at Virgil, who was staring out at the party. “Why what?”

“Why me?”

“Virgil, what do you mean?”

Finally, Virgil looked at him. “Why did you lot pick me?”

“Oh,” Logan shifted uncertainly. “Well, I don’t think I can pinpoint one particular thing about you that determined why I found myself _interested_ in you. Maybe your intelligence? I just found that I liked talking with you. Why do you ask? Did someone say something to you?”

“Sort of, indirectly?” Virgil groaned. “Forget about it. Let’s head back in. If people are worried about where I’ve been, I’ve been away too long. Sorry for worrying you.”

They stood up and Logan set the kitten back on Virgil’s shoulder. “It’s quite alright, Virgil. You seem to have needed to clear your head. If you need space, it’s better that you escape than forcing yourself to do something you do not have the energy for.”

Gala rubbed her head against his chin, purring. Virgil took a deep breath and followed Logan back into the house. He studied the fairy as they walked, wondering why he was being so gentle with him. He pulled Gala off his shoulder and let her snuggle in closer to him, feeling her shake from the noise.

“Ah! Our dark knight has returned!” Roman announced.

“VeeVee! Are you OK?” Pat demanded.

 _Play their game for now and deal with this later,_ Virgil thought before answering. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just needed a bit of air.”

Patton broke into a relieved smile. “Glad to hear you’re OK, Vee. Do you want to go play some games?”

“Uh, sure,” he glanced at the vampire kitten, happy to see she was now looking around rather than scared. “What do you guys want to go do?”

“Let’s see this haunted house you worked on!” Roman said, excitedly.

Virgil nodded as he set Gala back on his shoulder. Gala started purring as she found herself back up high where she could watch all the things and protect her nervous human. Virgil assumed she just liked being up high as she purred.

The group went to the haunted house line and waited, chatting about random things. Once it was their turn, they entered. Patton very much did not like the scary place and there were too many spiders. He held himself together for his partners, but Virgil noticed. He took Patton’s wrist and showed him a secret way out, leaving Logan and Roman to enjoy the rest. _Best not to have an upset fairy._

They played with Gala until they heard Roman screeching “It’s not funny! Where are you two!”

“Out here, RoRo!” Patton called back, giggling.

The two concerned fairies ran out of the exit. They looked around and sighed once they found the two who had gone missing. Patton gave a giggling apology as he hugged Gala. The kitten licked his nose before squirming out of his arms.

“Patton! You shouldn’t be playing with a cat!” Logan said.

“I’m fine! If I were going to have an allergy attack, I’d already be sniffling by now. I think she’s one of those… what are they, Lo? Hyper genetics?”

“Hypoallergenic,” Logan answered, “when did you two sneak off, then?”

Virgil shrugged. “Second room. Pat looked super freaked out, so I pulled him out while the two of you rushed on.”

“Oh, spiders! Oh, _mi amor_ , I’m so sorry!” Roman pulled Patton into a hug.

“It’s OK, RoRo. I got to play with Galaxy finally, so it all works out!”

After that, they went and played some more games. Virgil carefully watched them, trying to understand why a bunch of fairies would want to spend time with him. _When are they going to do something? Have they already put me under their spell? They have had his name for a while and he’s eaten a bunch of Patton’s cookies. Maybe he was already under their spell?_

“No way. No way!” Roman screeched before turning on Logan. “I so challenge you, nerd!”

Logan adjusted his glasses. “I accept your challenge.”

Roman dragged Logan over to a ping pong table and their match started. Virgil watched, surprised at their skill. Ten minutes passed before Roman was screeching that Logan cheated somehow. Patton giggled as he yanked the red fairy into a hug. They managed to get Virgil and Patton to play each other.

“Let’s make it interesting, Vee! If Pat wins the next point, you have to dance with us!” Roman said, grinning, after a minute or two passed.

Of course, being startled, Patton won the point and the four of them were off to the backyard. Virgil set Gala down with Dee before the three fairies dragged him into a dance. Regardless of the things running through his head, he did enjoy dancing with them. Roman was all over the place; Patton made even the most dad type of moves look fun; Logan was graceful.

“Let’s go take a breather,” Logan finally shouted to the three of them, trying to be heard over the blaring music.

“Can I get Galaxy!” Patton screeched excitedly.

Virgil nodded and watched both Patton and Roman head over to Dee. Logan motioned towards the corner Virgil had been in earlier. Virgil shook his head and waited for the two to return. He led them down one of the side paths that took them straight to the town’s community pond, where the party was just a murmur against the night.

Logan glanced at Roman, silently asking if this was a good time. Roman nodded as he handed out the drinks he’d grabbed. Everyone accepted as they took a seat on the grass. Gala excitedly started trying to eat a weed as the others relaxed.

“Virgil, we’d like to talk to you about something.” Roman carefully said. “It’s nothing bad, just want to clear some things up...”

“You three are fairies.”

The three froze in shock. Virgil wasn’t looking at them anymore. He silently hoped that they would laugh it off as of course they were fairies, what else were their costumes supposed to be? If they laughed it off, he would be able to put his mind to rest finally and be able to brush it off as him over-reacting. Yet, they didn’t do so. What felt like an eternity passed and that just confirmed the fact for Virgil.

“Virgil, when… when did you realize?” Patton asked softly. “We thought we were doing well at hiding it.”

“So, it is true.” Virgil buried his head into his knees. “I saw you flying and then felt the wings twitch. On… On top of other things that have been going on.”

“What type of other things?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He answered, miserably. “What do you three want from me? From what I’ve learned about fairies, you lot pretty much have everything you need to make me do whatever you want. What do you want? Why did you three choose me? Or was that just a random happenstance? I… I thought you three liked me.”

“Virgil, we do like you. We like you a lot. We’re still developing our relationship, so I don’t feel comfortable placing the word love on it yet, but it’s still true. We don’t want anything from you. Nothing you aren’t interested in or willing to give at least.” Logan answered.

Roman looked at the guy. “That’s what we wanted to talk to you about. We were planning on telling you the truth tonight. We wanted to ask if you would like to join our relationship as our witch. You don’t have to give us an answer. You can think about it. But we had planned on telling you.”

Virgil shut his eyes as he started to frantically mutter to himself. “This is all some giant dream. It has to be. It has to be too many conspiracy theories. There aren’t fairies. There isn’t magic. I’m just dreaming.”

The three fairies glanced at each other, worriedly. They figured that Virgil would deny the existence of magic, but he threw them a curveball and now they weren’t sure what to do. They watched in silence as Virgil tried to convince himself that this was all some dream or a bad joke.

_“Mew?”_

“No, Gala.”

_“Meeew?”_

“Please, just go back to eating the weed.”

_“Meeeew.”_

“Galaxy, please.”

She wiggled into the human’s curled lap and nuzzled him. He shifted so that he didn’t suffocate her. She moved so she was sitting on his knees, eye level with her human. Virgil blinked but raised his hand. She dropped the _very_ important object into his hand. He looked over the leaf, then back at her. With her prize in her human’s hand, she started giving herself a victorious bath, ignoring that she was still sitting on his knees.

“I think the kitten gave you a present, Vee,” Patton said, softly.

Logan cleared his throat. “Virgil, we mean you no harm. You’ve known Patton and me since May. We’ve known your name for a couple of months and we’ve shared food multiple times. If we were planning to harm you, don’t you think we would have done so, by now?”

“If it makes you feel any better, you are also unsusceptible to magic, even ours,” Roman added, helpfully.

They saw Virgil’s eyes widen as he went very still. “So, you have magicked me.”

“No! I mean, yes! But no! Kind of? It wasn’t… They didn’t…” Roman looked panicked. “I tried to use magic on you to get you to go away the first time we met, so yes, but it didn’t work because you are someone who is immune to magical influences so no! I was only trying to get you to go away like I told you to do so, many times.”

Virgil recalled that night and asked before his fear caught up. “Was that why you looked like your hand had betrayed you?”

“Uh… yeah?”

Logan took a deep breath. “Virgil, please. Do you really think we want to hurt you?”

He shifted. “Honestly, I don’t know anymore.”

“Wait, do you happen to know what your necklace is made from?” Roman suddenly asked. “It’s something I’ve been wondering, and if it is what I think it is, it can show you!

Virgil peeked at it, confused. “Uh, not for certain? It’s not sterling silver or zinc alloy as I can’t wear those kinds of jewelry. Why?”

Logan caught onto what Roman was thinking. “Hold it out, Virgil.”

Patton’s voice was racing the human’s movement. “Wait, don’t touch it, LoLo! You’ll hurt yourself if it is iron.”

Logan glanced at Patton. “If it eases Virgil’s concerns, I am fine with a minor burn. And knowing Roman’s thoughts, I’d rather be the one with the burn over our beloved idiot, who would just grab it without a thought.”

“Wait, what?”

Not giving Virgil a chance to realize what was going on, Logan carefully poked the pendant with his non-dominant pinky. There as a small sizzling sound and flash of bright light, causing the advisor to rip his hand back from the pendant, hissing in pain. Virgil, in turn, ripped the necklace away from reach, his eyes wide in fear.

Patton jumped into action as he grabbed Logan’s hand. He carefully poured the drink he’s only sipped over the burn, Logan wanted to argue that he was fine, but he also knew that Patton would only worry more, so didn’t bother trying to stop the medic.

“Well, I believe that shows that the pendant is pure iron. If you did any amount of research, Virgil, you know that the fae are susceptible to iron and it weakens, if not expels any of our magic.”

“And so you decide that to prove that you don’t want to hurt me, you decide to go and hurt yourself!” Virgil shouted, terrified. “You could have been like it’s probably iron!”

“So, do you finally believe we have no intention of hurting you?”

 _Did I really drink enough for this entire mess?_ Virgil gulped. “Maybe? A little?”

“Enough to be able to ask if you want to see Samhain in the Realm of the Fae? Roman asked, cautiously.

“I… uh…” _Was he really going to do this when not even a minute ago he wasn’t sure he could even trust them? Well, he’s already this deep in trouble,_ “Screw it, why not. Let’s do it.”


	20. Fairy Parades and Markets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil spends the day in the Realm of the Fae.

“You…How… I can’t…” Dee was spluttering at Remy, looking furious. “A fairy told you that they were taking Anx and you were like ‘chill’?”

“I gave Logan my number if they needed to get ahold of me.”

“You let Anx _go_ to the Realm of the Fae!”

“Logan looked shocked that he even agreed to go in the first place.”

“Did you even check to see if Anx agreed to go!?”

“He’s got an iron-forged protection amulet, he’ll be fine.”

“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?!?”

****

_Have I lost my mind?_ Virgil was really starting to wonder as he found himself standing in front of the line of mushrooms that marked the fairy circle. Gala was in Roman’s arms, calmly purring as if all of this were perfectly normal for her. Logan was giving him a run-down of how the circle would work and what it would feel like, trying to help Virgil prepare for it. Logan made a point _not_ to consider whether the necklace Virgil was wearing would inhibit the magic, as there was no way they were going to ask him to take off the thing that brought him a little mental peace.

“Alright,” Logan said softly. “You can tell us at any point you want to return, but this is the last stop before you cross into our realm. We will make sure that you are back here in your realm with plenty of time before the end of Samhain, which, once again, is sunset November 1st. Are you sure you want to do this, Virgil?”

 _NO!_ “Let’s do this.”

Virgil knew he hadn’t drunk enough to be drunk (that was also ignoring the several hours he’s had to sober up), but he was still going to wonder if he had too much to drink because he was stupidly doing this. Being fair to himself, he also didn’t expect this to work, so there wasn’t anything to actually be afraid of… right? He’d step past the mushrooms and nothing would happen. They’d laugh as they couldn’t believe he fell for the joke and he would join them for his own dumbness and everything would be fine!

Still, he took a deep breath and stepped forward. The ground seemed to throw him forward. It reminded him of doing forward flips underwater as he frantically tried to find his balance. When the ground settled, Virgil officially lost balance and fell face-first into a stone floor. He laid there, already wanting to go home and sleep this entire mess off.

“VeeVee! Are you alright?” Patton asked, kneeling next to the man.

Virgil mumbled something into the stone before sitting up. Looking around, he realized he was in some stone building with wide windows showing the sky starting to lighten up. He realized with a start that this looked like pictures he’s seen of those old stone castles. Patton gently helped him to his feet as he tried desperately to convince himself that this was all some huge joke.

Patton carefully looked him over once he was on his feet. “You’ll feel a bit disoriented but otherwise you appear to be fine, Vee.”

“Why don’t we head to my study? It is close by and will offer a place to view the village while he accustoms to the realm.” Logan suggested.

“My study is closer, why didn’t you suggest it?” Roman pouted.

Logan turned to look at the fairy. “Unless you decided to randomly clean your study while we slept yesterday, your study is trashed with crumpled up papers, half-finished projects, and whatever else you use in there scattered on the floor.”

“Sorry, RoRo, but Logan has a point. We don’t want Vee slipping on a stray pencil while he’s a bit disoriented.”

“Uuuuugh, fine!”

With that, the group started down the hall, matching Virgil’s speed. The entire place screamed wealth at him. Along the inner walls were tapestries and statues. Decorative arches even made the otherwise boring stone decorated. Logan started commenting on different things they passed, telling Virgil of the history or significance of a tapestry or statue.

They arrived at Logan’s study and Virgil practically collapsed into the chair Logan offered him. He took note that the study was full of books with a large desk in the center, pretty much what he thought a study of Logan’s would look like. Patton hummed as he got everyone some water. Roman set the kitten in Virgil’s lap before sprawling in another armchair, unconsciously wrapping his red wings around him so he was comfortable. Logan went over to his desk to see that someone had brought him more work with a grimace.

“Well, welcome to Castle de Fae, Vee,” Roman commented.

“Roman, did you not send that agreement off?” Logan asked, looking through the papers on his desk.

Roman pouted. “It’s a holiday, Lo. I’m not forcing some page away from their family to deliver paperwork that is just being submitted for records and whatnot.”

Logan pinched his eyes, knowing that there would be no way to send it off today. “You need to send it off first thing tomorrow. Any longer and you get to deal with the extra paperwork you cause.”

“Don’t mind them,” Patton said, offering Virgil a cup. “They aren’t supposed to be talking work stuff today. How are you feeling, Vee? Less wobbly?”

“Uh…yeah, thanks,” Virgil answered, awkwardly. “Uh, why are we in a castle?”

“When returning from your realm, we normally return to wherever we live. Since the three of us live in the castle, and as it is a huge security breach to have fairies being able to pop into a room without permission, those who arrive in the castle come to a central entryway so guards can monitor who comes and goes.” Logan answered, filing away the paperwork for later.

“You guys live in a castle?”

Virgil noted that Roman had the look Remy called ‘Remus slapped you with a fish’ look as he answered. “You’ve got to be kidding. Not recognizing that we are fae was one thing, but I literally told you who I was. Of course, we live in a castle. Where else would the prince and his partners live?”

 _How much more was he going to be able to take?_ “I… I thought you were just one of those people who put more worth on your last name. I didn’t realize it was a title. Oh shit, that means I technically fought a prince. Isn’t that like treason or something? What is even going on? I don’t believe any of this. Magic can’t be real, but how the heck did we randomly travel to a castle and that means it is real and I apparently fought a prince and oh shit Remy is going to kill me when they find out that I went from discovering my crushes were actual fairies to being thrown in some fairy jail all in one night. Oh shit…”

“Virgil, breathe with me,” Patton said, gently.

Roman watched Patton get the purple-haired one to slowly breathe. “Virgil, you’re not getting thrown in some cell. Don’t you remember? I threw my glove at you; therefore, you were in your right to fight me. Relax, you are safe with us, Vee. I swear upon my wings and honor that you are safe with us.”

“Vee, are you OK?” Patton asked softly. “You can always head back if this is too much.”

 _Please! He can’t take more of this nonsense! Just let him be and pretend this never happened!_ “No, no. I’m fine. I’m just mentally screaming.”

“We could always go do something normal like my favorite pastime: annoy the authority figure.” Roman offered, grinning.

Logan gave him an unamused look. “Which means either me or your father.”

“Oh come off it, Lo.”

Virgil awkwardly coughed, deciding that he had to suspend his disbelief in all of this, if only for his sanity, at least until he returned home and could properly think. “So, uh… what are we going to be doing, I guess? I figure you lot had some sort of plan when you asked.”

“Well, it’s all with the reminder that you can say no to any of it, but this morning there is a parade to celebrate Samhain. Market will be showing off all sorts of things, so maybe that afterward. After that, we can figure it out.” Patton said, smiling as the kitten screamed at her human to place her on his shoulder.

“Won’t the…uh… the fairies, or what… I mean whoever, notice that I am not exactly a fairy?” Virgil asked, worriedly, but also in disbelief that his anxiety was _already_ adapting to this mess.

“There are witches who attend Samhain festivities with their companion. There is usually a handful of prospective humans attending with a fairy while they see if a deal would be beneficial.” Logan answered. “While I doubt anyone would actually ask, you can just tell them that you are one of the handful of prospective humans.”

Virgil scowled. “You say that as if us humans actually have much of a say.”

“While I will admit that just as with any group, there will be outliers who go against the norms, the fae will generally go out of their way to ensure that the potential companion has their voice in the matter.”

“You keep using companion, but earlier you lot said that you wanted me to join your relationship as your witch…”

Logan nodded. “Yes, we wish you to join us in a romantic sense. The relationship between a fairy and a human does not always have to be of a romantic sort. Plenty of fairies enter a deal with their best friend so that they may see the world together. Some are temporarily formed in part of a real deal, where both receive something once the deal is completed. Just like relationships among beings are complex out there, they are just as complex in this regard as well.”

Virgil pursed his lips, thinking about how screwed he’d be once they forced him into this deal of theirs, as Gala nuzzled in closer to his throat. “Hypothetically, if I do agree to whatever this is, what would happen?”

The three fairies took this question as a good sign however as Logan answered. “Well, it would have little to no effect on you and what you are already capable of. What it would do is allow us to travel past the fairy circle with you.”

“But you three were at the diner and Remy and Emile’s house?”

“Well, on Samhain, we can leave the fairy circles. For our first date, Patton spent a little bit of time exploring various circles and found one within your town, where luck would have it was a restaurant. The circle was crushed, so it was a little harder than normal to maintain our presence, but it was there.” Roman answered.

“Oh,” he shifted, uncertainly with all this information.

Patton glanced at Roman. “So, should we head to the fairgrounds or do you think we should drag your dad out of bed before heading out?”

“Knowing him, he’d be put out if we don’t introduce him to Vee. But, on the other hand, why do I want to go deal with my dad? Let’s go find a good place to watch the parade, so long as Virgil wants to go.”

 _Just keep agreeing so they don’t get angry, Virge._ “Well, who am I to say no to a good parade?”

Patton giggled and dragged Virgil out of his seat, scaring Gala by the sudden movement of her pillow. Pat apologized to Gala but continued to drag her human out the door. Roman grabbed Logan’s hand and quickly followed. The two who were being dragged glanced at each other with an eye roll, accepting their fate from the two energetic ones.

Virgil finally and completely gave up on trying to make sense of any of what he was seeing. He didn’t want to upset the three fairies and if he questioned everything, he would, without a doubt upset them. Still, he decided that was probably the best decision he’s had as he looked around with awe.

Every inch of the place seemed to be touched by what Virgil could only call magic. People were flying like it were no big deal. Strange animals caused the normal kinds of mayhem. There were even little clouds roaming around, watering all of the plants, including a little weed sticking up from the sidewalk.

The parade was almost the same as any other parade Virgil had seen: loud, lots of dancing, feats that even had Logan impressed, and all that. The four of them were constantly handed little things from the people participating. Virgil was the only one who wasn’t properly prepared for all of it, they realized, as Logan and Patton shoved things into their bags and Virgil started to run out of cauldron space.

As Virgil watched, he picked out a bunch of people who didn’t have wings. They also seemed to zone in on him, making sure that he got candy, little prizes, a vial or two of soft silver liquids, one person even handed him a beautiful necklace that had to have been worth hundreds in the human world. Even Gala found herself getting pets, cat treats, and some comments of ‘you’re a pretty familiar, aren’t you?’

Once the parade was over, Roman took Virgil’s elbow (he had too much in his arms and the cauldron) and pulled him to the market. With a small grin, Roman quickly got him a proper bag for all the little prizes. Virgil went pink, but accepted the bag, knowing he wasn’t able to carry everything all day. Once the anxious man took the bag, Roman smiled brightly, before dragging him off to look at _everything_.

Virgil quickly found himself laden down with even more stuff. If he looked at something longer than thirty seconds, Roman promptly bought it for him, regardless of whether he actually wanted it or not. Virgil noted that he gave Patton and Logan a full minute before doing the same, but they were at least suffering the same fate.

“It’s how I show love, mi amor!” Roman announced when Virgil finally asked, bright red and awkward. “I have little time to spend with my loves so I balance it by spoiling them all! I’ve got the money and it goes to local people who can use it, while I show my love!”

“You don’t need to spoil me, Ro,” Virgil said, softly.

Roman took his hand and gently kissed it. “I don’t need to do anything. It’s what I want to do. Logan shows his love by helping others. Patton loves physical shows of love like hugs or cookies, I show my love with gifts! If it bothers you, I will stop, though. Don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”

Once they had visited every stall in the market, they returned to the castle for lunch. Roman was a little nervous as they headed to the dining hall, but he knew his father would love this new partner. _Wait, we still haven’t actually asked if he wants to make it official, with or without being our witch, oh well._

“…these are the best though!”

Patton giggled. “Sounds like they’re still splitting their candy.”

The group went to the head of the table where two fairies were in the middle of a staring contest while the smallest of the trio was munching on some fruit. Talyn waved at them, before noticing the addition to the normal trio. They said something to Thomas, who nodded but didn’t stop staring at Joan.

“Uh, what’s up, Dad?” Roman asked.

Joan gave a shout as Thomas’s eyes twitched, glancing at his son. “Your dad and I were in a staring contest for Talyn’s rainbow candy, which he just lost!”

Logan chuckled as he pulled one from his bag. “Here, we did break your concentration, so you can take mine. They’re too sweet for me anyways.”

“See!” Talyn shouted before turning to the new addition. “So, I take it that you’re Virgil. A pleasure to finally see who Lo and Pat were gushing over. I’m Talyn. That’s Joan and this is King Thomas.”

“Thomas. Just Thomas.” He said, finally seeing the new being, before freezing.

Virgil did not like the look on the fairy’s face as Thomas struggled to keep his thoughts off his face. _Is this when I finally find out just how much I messed up agreeing to all of this or everything else? Am I about to be thrown in make-believe fairy jail? The day so far has been sort of nice, even if I’ve been terrified of the other shoe dropping, but I guess this is when it finally does._

The entire group looked at him in confusion, not used to Thomas not having already cracked two jokes with a new person. Thomas’s advisors glanced at each other, extremely worried while Roman, Logan, and Patton just watched the scene in confusion. Patton and Logan had shifted as if to hide Virgil, but they didn’t need to.

Thomas’s logic finally caught up with him as he offered a strained smile to Virgil. “I’m completely sorry, this is a thousand percent not on you and completely just me.”

With that, Thomas bit his arm and screamed before finally managing to relax, much to the horror of the group. “OK, I’m better, sorry. Uh… Virgil, is it?”

Roman tried for a grin, but he was just as worried as Virgil. “Hey, normally takes me several days of random shit before I get him to screech like that. You’ve already beaten me in my own game!”

“Uh, Thomas? Everything alright?” Joan asked.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry again, Virgil. You just look similar to a young woman I once knew and those were some extremely repressed memories. It’s nothing on you, I promise.”

“Dad, with a woman? Yeah, no that’s impossible.”

“I helped her do something once and that was it, Roman. Your Pa and I were already married. Now, let’s just move past this, please.” Thomas then spent half an hour shooting down all further questions and tried to keep the conversation light.

Once Thomas and his advisors were called away for some business, Logan glanced at Virgil. “Well, that was not what was supposed to happen. Sorry, Virgil.”

“It’s… alright? What now?” he answered, now just wanting to do something to block that experience from his mind.

****

It was about an hour from sunset when Remy arrived at the hill. Logan was sitting there with a sleeping Virgil next to him. Not saying a word, Remy easily collected the sleeping figure, shocked to sense just how deep of a sleep he was in. Remy glanced at the fairy and couldn’t help the grin seeing how tired Logan was as well.

“You lot must have been running around for how exhausted he is,” Remy commented.

Logan grinned, tiredly. “Pat and Ro are already fast asleep. Once you get him in your car, come back for the rest.”

“Rest?” Logan waved at the pile of junk Roman had practically forced upon the man.

“Boi, do you lot want another partner, because like holy cow, I thought I spoiled my babes.”

The fairy yawned. “Just get on with it.”


	21. Five... Four Stages of Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil finally breaks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a heavy feels chapter, so please be careful! If you need to skip this chapter, please do!
> 
> Tw: anxiety attack, mental breakdown, hyperventilation

Virgil shot up, gasping for air, as he frantically looked around. He was laying in bed with a screaming kitten behind him, who was _rudely_ awoken by her human. He glanced at the time and let out a breath seeing that it was only six in the morning. _It was just some dream. It was just all a dream._ The Halloween costume was slung across the dresser, ready to be placed on just the way he left it. Virgil groaned as he laid back.

_Just a dream. It was all a dream. Thank everything. Tonight was Halloween and he would happily spend the night hanging out with his friends and crushes. He would forget everything that happened in the dream. He won’t even tell Remy so that he can just forget everything and just go about his normal life on this normal Halloween with his normal friends and his normal crushes and everything would just be normal._

_“Mew!”_

He gently scooped the kitten up. They went into the kitchen where Gala was set in front of her food and water bowls and Virgil poured himself a glass of water. He went into the living room and jumped back with a screech. Sitting on the couch were bags upon bags of junk. Yet, it wasn’t any normal junk. _No, it was just a dream! Today is Halloween. That entire day couldn’t have happened!_

Virgil ripped open his laptop and saw the date Nov 2nd. He ran for his phone and saw the same date listed on it. His mind was screaming the word no over and over again. He might have actually been saying it as well, but he was panicking as he searched for the TV remote. His hands were trembling as he searched but he had to see what day the news was showing as a broadcasted newscast wouldn’t say November 2nd if it weren’t that day, right?

_There’s no way._

_There’s no way._

_There’s no way._

_No… way…_

Virgil held the _on_ button before his trembling hands pushed the numbers for the news channel. His eyes took in the screen before slamming the _off_ button, now with an additional fear of lettuce… again. He didn’t even buy lettuce from the store, why should he worry about his homegrown… _Now is not the time to panic about lettuce!_

“It was just a dream. I didn’t go to some strange place. I didn’t find out my crushes are living fairies. I didn’t… No.” Virgil’s voice sounded unsure, even to himself.

_“Mew?”_

“You are not a familiar. You are just a cat. Actually, I’d say an emotional support cat as like you have kept me from laying in bed all day on my phone, but you are not some magical creature of the night.” Virgil stated to the kitten.

She cocked her head. _“Mrrph?”_

Virgil ran a hand through his hair, looking over the bags. “Those aren’t magical nicknacks and whatnots. We just went to a normal market and had a normal day. There’s no such thing as magic. There can’t be magic. I was just too in the moment not to see how any of it worked, like I was too far from the stage during a magic show! There’s no real magic!”

_Show me your power, freak._

“NO! Magic isn’t real. There aren’t fairies. There aren’t witches. There aren’t things that go boo. It’s all just tricks!”

_Stop pretending, freak, and just accept your fate._

Virgil wasn’t breathing properly but that didn’t matter as he caught sight of one of the billions of articles that were randomly dumped on him. He let out a strangled scream as he dove for it. It was torn to shreds as he insistently stated that there was no such thing as magic.

“There’s no such thing as magic. They aren’t fairies. Fairies are just fairytale creatures meant to scare children. There’s no such thing as magic!”

_You will perform magic for me. You will show that your blood is tainted._

Gala watched as the human started pacing back and forth, making loud sounds. She hid under the table with her ears pressed down, waiting for the loud noise to stop. She wasn’t scared but she really didn’t like it. Her human hurt and was letting out loud sounds to help ease the hurt. She could feel that he was scared and stressed, just like he’d been for the past week. His nervous energy was even affecting the green food things, but she also knew he was struggling to overcome whatever it was that he was going on about. She tucked herself into a tiny loaf, wanting the loudness to go away from her human.

“This has to be some giant joke! Of course it’s some joke! I don’t care who’s pulling this on me, I’m going to… They’re going to pay for this! They can’t just pull all of this off to convince that that I’m…” Virgil suddenly froze, eyes wide with pure terror. “No, I am not… There’s no such thing as a witch!”

_Witch!_

_Witch!_

_Witch!_

He was now screaming with tears in his eyes as he found another stack of witch articles. The tearing sound did nothing to ease the fear and knowledge screaming in his mind. He refused to acknowledge that he had magic. He wasn’t anything special. He was just some freak who liked plants and dark clothes. He liked night because it was quiet and cool. He liked plants because they don’t judge him! Those people who randomly did what he wanted were acting completely on their own free will!

“I…I’ll burn down the greenhouse! I’ll start wearing only white and pinks and yellows! I’ll show them that I’m not a witch!” Virgil was starting to hyperventilate but he continued as he tore more papers into tiny strips of paper. “There isn’t magic. I’ll wake at sunrise and go to bed at sunset. I’ll never look at another plant. I don’t know magic! I’ll never perform another magic trick again!”

_Filth, stop this whimpering and cast the magic, disgusting witch-child._

Virgil wasn’t even sure what he was screaming anymore as he ripped the bags off the couch. Not even glancing inside to try and convince himself that the stuff inside was normal stuff, he threw all of it into his trash.

_You can’t hide it for long, witch._

He grabbed the witch costume and tried ripping it apart, though his muscles were not cooperating! He was sobbing as he desperately pulled at the cloth, feeling his muscles do that pathetic weak muscle spasm they did when all his energy was going to his breakdown. He ran into the living room with the costume, frantically searching for scissors to cut it.

_Magic is corruption and all who use it are evil._

He remembered that he’d taken all of them into the greenhouse while tending to plants. With the thought of the greenhouse, he switched to frantically looking for a lighter, needing to get rid of anything that suggested that he was some… that he was…

_Say it you beast. You are a witch. Say it!_

Finally, with one last sobbing screech, the lack of air caused Virgil to collapse onto the group, gasping in the middle of his living room. Tears were streaming down his face as he fell further down his hole. _Does this mean that I’m evil? Does this mean that sweet Patton is evil? Does this mean that brilliant Logan is evil? Does this mean that chivalrous Roman is evil? Does this mean that everything I thought that was good in the world is in fact evil?_ More tears streamed down his face as he desperately struggled through all of this.

Something fell on his tear-stained face and Gala gave a soft _“mew”._

Virgil picked the object up before he wiped his face. Looking at it, he realized it was his phone. Staring down from the lock screen was a picture from his birthday last year. It was a picture of all of them: Remus with his arm snaked behind Dee’s head so that he could do bunny ears behind Virgil. On Virgil’s other side were Remy and Emile smiling brightly, though Remy was also attempting to give Virgil bunny ears, so he had like four fingers poking up from behind his head.

Gala pawed at his phone, while easily sitting on his chest, as if her pound and a half were enough to keep him on the floor. Gulping, Virgil unlocked the phone and started typing out a message. He caught sight of his contact name and decided that it couldn’t be that for the moment. He took a deep breath before hitting send.

_[Virgil]: is anyone able 2 talk now or sometime soon? [sent at 1136]_

_[HissHissMfs]: I’m free whenever. U ight? [sent at 1140]_

_[Trenta4Sandman]: same gurl. Want us to come over or meet somewhere else? [sent at 1141]_

_[Virgil]: @dee’s? plz? Soonish?[sent at 1143]_

_[HissHissMfs]: no probs [sent at 1144]_

_[Trenta4Sandman]: heading over rn see ya soon, babe. [sent at 1144]_


	22. The Truth Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil finally learns the truth about Remy and Dee.

“So, do you think it’s finally going to happen?” Dee asked, accepting the mug of coffee Remy offered him.

“Well, he spent the day with a bunch of fairies and witches, so I think we are going to have a handful,” Remy answered, setting a third mug of hot chocolate out for the missing friend. “That said, I do believe those three care for him.”

“I don’t trust fae and that is the end of that. Nothing you say will change that.”

“I’m not saying that your feelings are wrong, but I do think you should recognize that it was solely your father’s choice to do that deal, not every fairy you met was part of it. What kind of decent father _wouldn’t_ do what they could to save their newly married child from a long life of pain and suffering?”

Dee glared at the sandman. “I am not in the mood to discuss this with you, Remy. Prepare your therapist side for the mess that Anx will be, not trying to dig things out of me.”

“Well, you are one of my best friends as well, Dee, and we are going to be spending quite a bit of time with a bunch of fairies, so you may need to start thinking about that.”

Dee glanced at his phone, not even trying to be subtle with his change in topic. “Where is Anx anyways? He’s closer to here than you are.”

Remy decided to save their energy. “Not sure, but he does tend to move slower when he’s freaking about stuff. You know, all the second-guessing his actions and the basic mental exhaustion that comes with his anxiety. Plus, he didn’t exactly say when, he just said soonish. Give him half an hour, then we start tracking him down.”

Dee didn’t like it, but as barely five minutes later there was a frantic knock, he had to give it to them. He let Virgil in who was almost the dictionary definition of an emotional mess. He looked like he had rolled out of bed and ran over. For once, he didn’t have a tiny black kitten with her claws latched on, making sure she wasn’t left behind. He was still in his PJ bottoms, and Dee would be willing to bet that under his normal jacket was the MCR t-shirt he slept in. His hair was all over the place. His face was extremely pale, which was the only real thing about his appearance that worried Dee.

“Sit and drink,” Dee ordered, motioning to the cup of warm hot chocolate. “We can discuss whatever once you are not about to pass out from hypoglycemia.”

Virgil let Dee move him however he wished. His body was shaking as he sipped the drink. The two mom friends glanced over their anxious mess, wondering how he even managed to make it over. Remy finally shrugged and started trying to untangle anxious one’s hair while Virgil desperately tried to collect himself.

“Alright, you have some color back. What’s up, gurl?”

A bolt of terror shot through Virgil and he was back on his feet pacing. “I… Well… It’s insane… It can’t be true… Yet… No, it can’t… I’m just seeing things… That has to be it! But…”

“Whoa, Vee, take a deep breath.” Remy stated. “You can talk to us. I have a feeling we already know and we will believe you, Virgil.”

“That’s not true! I don’t even believe me right now! How can you two believe something I don’t even believe!” Virgil was struggling not to fall apart, but he was failing. “It’s literally impossible but I saw it but it’s not possible but it is?”

“Virgil, tell us.”

Virgil didn’t though. He continued with the same vague statements as he sunk himself further into a panic. What little color he had gained back was once again gone. Dee knew that they wouldn’t be able to get him to take more sugar in while he was in this state, so he decided that he would rip the Band-Aide off for the anxious man.

“Virgil, you’re going to be furious either way, so may as well get this over with.”

Taking a deep breath, Dee willed himself to shift. Instantly, Virgil was on the coffee table, screaming. Dee shifted back as Virgil started sobbing, rocking himself back and forth. Remy gave Dee an unamused look that told him that the action was not exactly the best course, but whatever, what was done was done.

“Virgil, magic is real. It’s not dangerous. We know. Those three pests you’re dating are fairies, one of which is literally the prince. I’m a shapeshifter. Remy is a sandman. You are a witch. These are true things and while we wish that you could have remained ignorant about all of it, shit has hit the fan and well, we just have to deal with it.” Dee stated. “Now, come on, we need to get you breathing properly again, otherwise you’ll pass out from hyperventilating.”

Remy had never seen Virgil this bad before, and they’ve seen some pretty bad anxiety attacks. They had half a mind to kill Dee and tell Virgil that it was all made up. Yet, with his power growing, this conversation had to happen. It was still hard on the sandman to see Virgil flinch away from their touch as if expecting pain. It took forever before he was breathing at least at a more acceptable rate, curled tightly in a ball, pain and anger in his eyes.

“Who else.” He finally asked.

“What?” Remy asked.

Tears touched his eyes but he wasn’t going to show any more weakness. “Who else has been lying to me? Remus? Is that why you call him a rat-man? What about Emile? Is he some vampire or something?”

Dee rubbed his neck. “Believe it or not, Remus is very much a human. Same as Emile. They do know, however. You were the only one in our group to be…”

“To be lied to. To be misguided. Well, congrats. I know now. Just tell me what you all want and I’ll do it, OK? I’m done. You all can’t be that interested in me without wanting something. Just tell me. Please, it’s killing me not knowing what you all want from me. Just… Just tell me and how I’m supposed to do it and I will. You lot can have it finally done with and just leave me be. Please.”

Remy tried looking Virgil in the eyes. “Virgil, we don’t want anything from you. You are our friend. We kept you in the dark because we didn’t want to cause you this pain. I didn’t even want to tell Emile, but he walked in at a bad time and so I had to. You can be mad that we didn’t tell you, but please don’t think we were ever using you. If it weren’t for…”

“If it weren’t for what? My inability to actually notice that the people around me are capable of some weird-ass shit? The fact that I seem to be a magnet for freaks! I thought I could trust the two of you! I can here hoping that at least one of you could help me clear my head, only to find out that you two are part of the problem!”

“Hey, don’t call us freaks!” Dee shouted back.

“What did you do to Remus, anyways? Keep him poisoned just enough to stay?”

“You leave Remus out of this!”

Remy watched as the two of them started screaming even more at each other. They had hoped that Virgil going with the three fairies would take the edge off of this conversation, but they guessed that it just added to the turmoil raging in Virgil. They knew that this was only going to get worse, but on the other hand, what could they really do? _It’s not like I could knock one of them out…_ _Remy, you dumbass._

Dee didn’t even see the ball of sand that hit him. He just found himself falling onto the ground and falling asleep. Virgil watched in terror as Dee did so. He scrabbled away from Remy, terrified of what they would do to him. Remy winced at his action but took a sip from their coffee, trying to show that they meant the poor boy no harm.

“What did you do to him?” Virgil finally asked.

“Knocked him out with some sleep sand. You two were screaming things in a moment of tense emotions and I know you two will regret it later.”

Virgil gulped. “So, now what?”

Remy tapped their mug. “Honestly? I have no clue. This entire thing was never going to go well. Not with your history and especially since we’ve hidden this from you for years. Of course, Dee could have gone about the actual reveal a bit gentler but there is no changing what he decided to do. Unfortunately, though, your own magic is growing stronger, so there wasn’t a choice. We just have to figure it out, I guess. Teach you how to use your magic so that you don’t hurt anyone, that sort of thing.”

Virgil was on his feet again, panic and adrenaline running through him. “Here’s another thing that you don’t get a choice on. Stay away from me!”

With that, Virgil ran out of the house, leaving his closest friend behind.


	23. Acceptance is the Last Stage of Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the fallout with Remy and Dee, Virgil just needs to leave town and clear his head.

Gala yawned as she stretched out on the comfy couch. She could feel that something big was going to happen soon, but for now, she just laid there, relaxing. Her ears picked up hearing someone at the door and she jumped up when she realized it was her human. He was more upset than when he left but he was back and she could watch him!

He slammed the door shut and fell onto the floor, desperately trying to breathe. She carefully climbed off the couch before running over to him. She greeted him and wormed her way into his arms, happy that her human was safe from the meanies in the world. He was muttering about what he was going to do, but she insisted that what he was supposed to do was give her ear a scratch.

His phone made a sound that caused him to jump. Gala found herself being placed on her human’s shoulder, right where she liked. Virgil stood up and went into his bedroom, muttering something as Gala started to purr in his ear. She was set on the bed before he went around grabbing things and tossing them next to her onto the bed.

_Is this the big thing? Are we going on an adventure finally?! Sure, they’d been on several already, but they were heading out on another adventure?! She’ll help pack!_

Virgil watched the kitten knead his clothes, before grabbing a backpack. He started shoving everything he could into it. He froze, thinking. _Am I really just going to run away from everything I know? Well, apparently, I don’t actually know anything, but still… What about all the plants in the greenhouse?_

_“Here comes a thought…”_

Virgil snatched up his phone and declined Emile’s call. _I can’t talk to any of my friends. They all lied straight to my face for years. Forget everything that reminds me that they lied… that I’m…_

When Virgil looked back at his bag, he saw Gala peeking from the top of it, as if she had packed herself. For a moment, he questioned if he was going to leave the kitten behind as well, but looking into her curious eyes, he knew he couldn’t do that to her. He took the bag into the kitchen and, after removing the kitten, started packing food.

Gala watched as he poured some of that hard, icky kibble into a bag and stuff it into the other bag. She crawled along the counter and swatted at the can that held the yummy stuff. Her human gave an amused huff but added it to his bag. He looked around his kitchen, wondering if there was anything else he would need.

_Knock. Knock. “Vee? Are you in there?”_

Emile could hear movement from the other side of the door, but it suddenly stopped the moment he knocked. He gave Virgil a moment as if expecting him to answer, though Remy wouldn’t have looked so distraught when they told them if… Shaking his head, Emile knocked on the door again.

“Virgil? It’s Emile and Remus. We know you’re in there. We just want to talk. We understand what you’re going through. Please.”

“If you’d prefer, we could tell you all about the movie we watched this morning! It was rancidly amazing!” Remus added, grinning. “The main character…”

Emile quickly covered Remus’s mouth, knowing that the horror film _would not_ help Virgil right now. “Oh no, you don’t. We are not giving VeeVee nightmares.”

“But, it’s…”

“Stop.” Emile insisted. “Virgil has enough problems. We are not adding a horror film induced nightmare to his stack.”

Remus pouted but knocked on the door. “Come on, Anxie! Remy was a frantic mess when they called!”

There was still no answer, so Emile decided that they weren’t going to get any further crowding Virgil like this. “Alright, you win, buddy. We’ll come by later to see if you are up for talking. Virgil, please don’t forget that we’re here for you. All of us. We’re here. We care about you. We love you, Vee… We’ll let you be, then.”

They waited another minute before finally leaving. Inside, Virgil waited another couple of minutes before continuing with his packing. His thoughts were all jumbled, but he knew he just needed to get out of town for a little.

_I just need some time to clear my head away from all of them… and their magic._

Almost an hour later, Virgil and Gala were off, taking random paths through the forest, avoiding all towns and people. Gala watched as other animals scattered from her human, thinking it was her they were fleeing from. She started purring, trying to tell her human that she protected him and will continue to do so on their adventure. It was sunset by the time Virgil collapsed by a river, exhausted from the entire day.

 _“A witch with no teacher, with such a rare feature.”_ A soft voice said.

Tears touched Virgil’s eyes again, as he was exhausted and now someone was here. “Please, just leave me alone.”

_“I must first pass on a warning, regardless of your mourning. Deny your magic as you might, it is only a fruitless fight. You must retrieve your book of power, though you do not have to scour. For you, yourself buried it in a cave, where it remains in its dark hidden grave. Retrieve it so that you may learn before you make your return. With that said, rest now, for you are safe here; I shall leave you be in order to ease your fear.”_

Virgil tiredly looked around for the voice, but of course, there was no one around. If he weren’t so exhausted, he’d get up and ‘ _noped’_ himself away from the area of bodiless-voice land. Yet, he collapsed here and here he would sleep. It took what little energy the anxious man had to pull out his sleeping bag and curl up in it. His mind tried to scare him with thoughts of wild animals attacking or stealing his bag or whatever, but he was exhausted. They could screw off.

The next morning, Gala started swatting at her human’s face. _We may be on an adventure, but you will give me the yummy foods._ She didn’t let his sleeping swat back deter her from her breakfast. He finally started to respond and wake up to her swatting and yelling that he was failing to provide the yummy stuff! She wasn’t sure he was fully awake, but he was giving her the yummy food and so all was well again on their adventure!

Virgil had roughly a minute of pure ignorant bliss before he finally took in the surroundings and had the events of yesterday blasted into him. He took a deep breath, concentrating on the sounds of the forest around him, desperately trying to keep himself from an anxiety attack. Once Gala had eaten, he packed up the sleeping bag and left-over wet food. He offered Gala an open pocket of his backpack, but she screamed at him until he gave in and placed her on his shoulder.

“What’s going to happen when you’re a full-grown cat, Gala? There will be no room for you to stretch out and sleep on my shoulders.”

She licked his ear in response. He squirmed but gave a weak laugh. Gala perked up hearing the sound as it was the first nice happy sound from him in a while! She started purring, happy she got him to be happy. Virgil weakly smiled as he scratched her ear before continuing on.

 _For you, yourself buried it in a cave, where it remains in its dark hidden grave_.

Virgil paused, remembering that weird voice. He didn’t make a habit of burying books in caves, so he knew exactly which one the voice had been talking about. It was the only thing he took (stole) when he ran away from…

“Nope, not going. It’s dead and buried so dead and buried will it stay.” He announced.

His feet, however, did not get that message. He made a point to walk in the opposite direction and yet, next thing he was fully aware of, outside of his spinning thoughts, was arriving at the cave and screeching at himself for going to the one place he said he wasn’t going to go to. Still, it was late, so he decided that he’d stay here for the night and try to actually think things through.

Once he gathered some wood for a campfire, he found himself wandering to the very back of the cave. Despite fourteen years having passed since he buried the book here, the rock with a weakly chiseled X still sat where he remembered. Muttering a curse at his body for rebelliously disobeying his mind, he started to dig.

“You know what, it’s probably not even a book on magic. It’s some cookbook.” He said to himself, not actually believing it for a second as his mind threw an old memory at him while he dug.

_The bastard was in a good mood since he seemed to consider the child’s question. “How do I know you have magic, trash? Because your filthy mother had this.”_

_He threw a book straight at the child’s face, giving him a bloody nose. The child knew better than to cry out or show a reaction. He just held a sleeve to his nose while he peeked at the book. Flipping to a random page, he only found a bunch of scribbles and weird drawings, not like any of the letters the others showed him._

_“It’s just gibberish though.”_

_He yanked the book away from the child, slamming it shut. “If the filth had magic, so do you, beast. Now, get back into your room and leave me alone while I’m still being generous.”_

Finally, he uncovered the object he was looking for. Wrapped in a dark purple bag was the book. The binding and cover were made from a stiff leather with what Virgil assumed were iron bindings around it. In the center was a silver disk with a giant tree etched into it. He couldn’t tell what type of tree it was but would guess it was an ash tree or something similar. There was a little lever release mechanism that seemed almost mundane for the beautifully crafted book.

Taking a deep breath, Virgil opened it to a random page. What had once been strange scribbles to an abused child was detailed instructions on a protection potion to the anxious adult. Virgil’s hand was shaking as he flipped to another page, finding what he figured was a spell bringing good harvest.

Weakly, he carried the book back to his bag, “Maybe I just got better at reading bad handwriting?”

Gala gave him a look, one he couldn’t interpret, before pawing at the firewood. Virgil glanced at the book and then the wood. _Could he really cast magic?_ He thought about how he felt when the random occurrences he tried to brush off took place. It was usually an intense feeling and a desperate want that proceeded that strange warmth that filled him. Taking a shaking breath, he moved Gala to his lap and stuck out his hand. Seeing how bad it was shaking, he clenched it before reopening it.

“For the last of my sanity marbles.” He muttered before concentrating. “Light!”

Instantly, the wood caught fire and cheerfully crackled. Gala was purring as she laid down right on top of the book, sensing that her human was finally coming to his senses. Virgil’s breath caught and he knew there was no denying it anymore. As much as he wanted to scream and deny it, there was no way to do so as he stared at the roaring fire.

 _He was a witch_.


	24. Hey Memories, I'm Busy Searching!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy is going running around trying to find Virgil. They remember their friendship with Virgil in its early years.

Three days passed. Emile managed to keep Remy from tearing door Virgil’s door for three days before he began to get extremely worried. He managed to use a spare key to unlock the door before Remy started trying to kick, and Emile counted that as his minor victory for the day. Unfortunately, the group of friends found an empty house.

Remy started scouring the town, asking any and everyone if they’d seen the missing friend. They managed to cover the entire town within two hours and found themselves standing outside the fairy circle. Taking a deep breath, they entered and watched the dark blue fairy appear.

“Virgil!” Logan called out before seeing that it was not the human he was expecting. “Oh, sorry… Remy, was it?”

“Yeah, forget that though. Have you seen Virgil?”

“No, we haven’t seen or heard from him since you took him back to town,” Logan answered. “We were… well, I was hoping that it was Virgil who entered the circle. We’ve been worried how he’s taken everything.”

“Badly. He found out the truth about Dee and me and ran off. No one has seen him in a couple of days. Emile thought he was just in his house working through everything, but we just checked today, and he wasn’t there. I’m getting really worried and now the last place I was hoping has failed as well.”

Logan listened to the sandman jabber. Remy managed to keep themselves from tears, but it was just barely. They screwed up and really hurt Virgil. Now, they didn’t know if their friend was safe or alive. He was nowhere to be found and it was their fault! They got over the fairy obstacle only to be hit in the face with the issue they’d been dealing with for years.

“Wait, Patton! He can use Virgil’s name to find him. Where is he?” Remy asked.

“Work. Samhain is usually a busy time for the medics. Fairies trying to show off and all that. Plus, Patton’s magic is in fact extremely weak. That was part of the reason we decided on having him ask for Virgil’s name, though I would appreciate you not divulging that information elsewhere. I do not believe he would have enough power to properly locate Virgil.”

“Damn it,” Remy muttered. “Anx, where are you.”

Logan reached into his pocket and pulled out a dinosaur of a phone. “Let me try calling him.”

“Boi, where did you get a working old-Nokia?”

“A friend… I had to find a phone that would work from the Fae Realm, so I asked around some friend… well acquaintance groups, really. It took a while and this was what I was able to scrounge up. It works for calls and text messages so it’s good enough. Now shush,” Logan said, pulling up Virgil’s contact and calling. “Went straight to voicemail… which is full. How many people do you have searching for him, sandman?”

Remy blushed, deciding not to glance at how many times they had called. “Virgil only has our group. Still, thank you for trying. I’ll keep you updated if we find him.”

With that, they returned back home, defeated. They found their friends sitting in the living room just as defeated as them. They sighed as they shut the door. They went and made coffee, feeling unnerved by the silence with three of their group in the living room.

“Are we sure he doesn’t have anyone else that he might go to?” Dee finally asked.

“ _We_ are his family, Dee. We’re all he has.” Remy stated, flopping onto the couch.

“Can’t you just…” Emile pretended to sprinkle sand from his fingers.

“No, my powers cannot single out a person like that. It’s one thing to touch someone’s mind when I’m right there, but without knowing where he is, I can’t find him with my sand.”

Emile sighed. “I really wish I hadn’t stopped you from checking on him.”

“It’s not your fault, Em. We are all just trying our best, in our own ways.” Remy sighed.

The group went silent, each dealing with their own guilt over the situation. Dee couldn’t help but wonder if he hadn’t been so forward with his actions, would Anx have run off? Emile tried giving him some room, but that didn’t stop him from vanishing. Even Remus was blaming himself for not going back and picking the lock and forcing Vee to talk about anything with him.

Remus finally broke the silence. “Does Anxie have any place outside of town that he likes to visit?”

Remy thought for a moment. “Not really. The only place that he might go to is where he and I lived the first couple years we knew each other.”

“Did he feel safe there?” Emile asked.

“I believe so?”

“Any other place he may go then?”

“Not that I can think of, which means I at least have one more place to check for that idiot.” Remy stood up. “I guess I’m off to hopefully find our cryptid in a cave, then.”

Emile jumped up and grabbed their arm. “No, let me go.”

“Emile, you don’t even know where this cave is.”

“I know enough that it’s several hours drive away and you are not driving it.”

“Why?”

He took a deep breath, “Remy, you haven’t slept properly in three days. You haven’t taken your normal naps to help control your narcolepsy. If you go… I’m scared that I’ll lose you. Please, at least let me drive you there.”

“I’ll be fine, Emile,” Remy said softly.

“If doc says you haven’t taken care of yourself, then I can’t let you go on your own, either,” Dee stated. “Yes, we know you are a big non-binary bitch now. But we are already freaking over one of our group’s misfits. We don’t need another one to worry about.”

“Remy, you do so much for everyone, please let me help you for once. If for no other reason, just to ease my mind. Please,” Emile begged.

Remy stood there, looking over their friends. Even Remus looked ready to launch himself off the couch to start chomping on their hand if they tried grabbing their keys. Remy looked at Emile and saw the worry in his eyes and felt whatever inhibitions they felt melt away. A soft _I love this man_ shot through their head, but that wasn’t important right now.

“Alright, I can’t say no to three sets of puppy dog eyes.”

“Tell you what. On the way to wherever you’ll take a nap, but once we arrive in the town, you can go find him yourself. We don’t need to crowd him. Plus, if he is there, it could theoretically taint his safe space having someone else there who shouldn’t be.” Emile said, grabbing his coat and keys while he rambled. “Does this sound acceptable to you, Remy?”

They nodded. “It makes sense at least. Let’s hope that we aren’t wasting several hours.”

“Remus and I’ll keep an eye on Anx’s house, in case,” Dee said.

“Sounds like a plan.” Emile looked at Remy, “Don’t worry, we’ll find him. Now come on. If the town closest is several hours away, we’ll probably want an overnight bag.”

Barely ten minutes later, Remy found themselves sitting in the passenger’s seat of Emile’s SUV. Emile had soft piano music playing and had forced a pillow and blanket upon his partner before pulling out of their garage. They hadn’t even managed to get off their street before Remy was fast asleep. Seeing it made Emile sigh in relief that his partner didn’t take the ‘I’m not letting you drive’ mess so badly they disregarded Emile’s fear. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them, but he didn’t trust Remy’s narcolepsy to behave. Not when his partner hasn’t actively worked to keep it under control since Halloween. He turned the soft music up a little and continued driving.

****

_Remy noticed the kid before the kid noticed them. “Who are you!”_

_The kid jumped, revealing some wood. “Ahh!”_

_Remy sat up from their blankets. “Well, I don’t know what kind of name Ahh is but you’re in my cave. Go away.”_

_The kid started to ramble in a terrified voice. Remy moved over and realized that it was snowing outside. The kid probably saw the cave and ran for cover. Remy wanted to throw the kid out of their cave but they had too much of a moral compass to do so while it was snowing. Plus, the kid was too skinny and small to really offer much of a threat._

_“OK, stop. You can stay. Not much I can do about kicking you out during a snowstorm.” Remy finally said. “Where did you get wood anyway? I remember using the last of the sticks I got before I took a nap.”_

_“I… I…” the kid gulped. “I grabbed the sticks before… before the… white stuff started falling.”_

_“The snow? Whatever, let’s not freeze then.” Remy started searching their pockets. “Here, I have…”_

_Remy watched the kid twirling sticks around. The kid’s eyes seemed to flash and suddenly the wet pile of sticks was burning. The packet of matches Remy was about to offer the kid no longer necessary. They took a good look at the kid, realizing that they had a strange purple eye rather than two green ones._

_“Nice trick, kid,” Remy commented finally, pocketing their matches. “So, let’s try this again. I’m Remy, they/them. And you are?”_

_“Uh… Vir… Virgil… uh… he/him?”_

_“Nice to meet you, Virgil. Want some M &Ms?”_

_****_

_“Hey, hey, you need to breathe!” Remy was terrified of seeing their new friend panicking so bad._

_“Just leave me! I’m a freak! I’m evil! I couldn’t even do the thing he said I was supposed to do correctly. Please, go away!”_

_“I can’t just leave you like this! Not unless it’s to go find you some major help.”_

_“NO! He’ll find me! He’ll… he’ll…”_

_Remy looked over the terrified and panicking thirteen-year-old in front of them, wondering what this person did to this kid. “Alright, we won’t get an actual adult. So long as you start breathing properly!”_

_****_

_“He… he insisted that I was a witch and that I had to pay for stuff.” Virgil, now a fourteen-years-old, sniffled. “That bastard… he abused everyone who came into contact with him. I… well… he forced many of them to care for me as a kid. Several of them taught me how to read and basic math and stuff like that, but no one stay-…_ lived _long once he had ahold of them. He’d make a game out of how long before I started crying while he… did stuff… before killing them.”_

_“You’re free of that trash, Virgil,” Remy said, gently. “I won’t let him get near you. You’re safe with me. I’ll keep you safe.”_

_“You can’t promise that, Remy.”_

_“Hey, don’t give me that! I have the library very well convinced that you’re my rotten little brother! We’ll survive and show it to both my mom and your dad that we are capable of more than they thought and stick it to them!”_

_****_

_“What do you mean you don’t believe me!”_

_“You just happened to get arrested for a weekend and find out that some aunt that you never even heard of left you money and a house?”_

_Remy shrugged. “That’s what I was told. It doesn’t matter, Vee! We’ll have a real roof over our heads and money to pay for food! What are you waiting for, help me start packing up!”_

_“I don’t know about this, Remy. What if your mom finds out about this? She’ll come after you. I’d get thrown in some foster house until my bastard dad finds out where I am. We’d both end up in a worse situation.”_

_“I’m officially eighteen, Virgil. She can’t do anything about me. If she does come, you can just hide in a closet until she goes away. I know it will be fine. Please, just trust me. We’ll be safe.”_

_Virgil looked Remy over, his eyes showing his uncertainty, but he finally sighed. “Alright, I trust you, Remy. We’re in this together.”_

_Remy smiled at him. “We’re soul-siblings, of course, we’re in this together.”_

_“Still not a thing.”_

_“Bitch, it’s a thing cause I say it’s a thing. Now get your shit together!”_

_****_

_“Hey, Virge. Got an alert about some creep.” Remy said, looking at their computer. “Come take a peek so you know who not to accept candy from.”_

_Virgil rolled his eyes before moving over, muttering that he wasn’t that stupid. Then, there was a sharp intake of breath before he was running from the room. Remy jumped up and followed in shock. They found Virgil in the little garden he’d been working on, fighting off an anxiety attack._

_“Hey, breathe with me.” Remy walked Virgil through a couple of grounding techniques before the seventeen-year-old was finally breathing again. “What’s wrong, Virge?”_

_“That’s him. That’s the bastard…” Virgil winced away witch his eyes shut._

_Remy felt like a semi-truck hit them. “Don’t worry, Virgil. I promised to protect you and I plan on keeping that promise. He will not find you.”_

_Virgil peeked at Remy before throwing himself into their arms. Remy let their friend work through his emotions before taking him back inside. They spent the night coming up with contingency plans to help Virgil calm down. Having a plan in case something were to happen made it easier…_

_****_

“Remy!”

Remy opened their eyes to find there was too much sunlight hitting them. “Whaa…”

“We’re here. I’ve already found a room, so you can go and see if Virgil is in this cave of yours.” Emile answered, internally gushing at how adorable Remy was when they were waking up from a good sleep.

Remy’s dreams did nothing to ease the guilt and pain inside them though, but they were not about to worry Emile about that. Especially, when they could tell Emile was barely keeping himself from doing something like _pinching_ their cheek. They nodded and stretched. Once they felt ready for the small hike, they gave their partner a hug and started off into the forest.


	25. A Sandman Walks into a Cave...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy finds Virgil and they finally discuss the truth.

If Remy had been an ounce of any other emotion than worry, they would have scoffed at seeing the campfire. They would have screamed and cursed. Yet, seeing the fire sent a spark of hope through them. They couldn’t see the figure in the cave, but they could hope.

What they couldn’t do was just turn back and tell Emile that they saw a campfire and didn’t bother to make sure it was Virgil and make sure that the idiot was alright. They would probably throttle themselves before they even lost sight of the campfire, and if they didn’t, Emile would have. So, they continued forward, bracing themselves for fury or a scare depending on who was in the cave. They didn’t even see the figure before a voice called out.

“Remy?”

They took a step into the cave and felt relief wash over them. Sitting there was a safe and sound Virgil. He looked like he’d been put through a mental wringer, but otherwise, he didn’t look hurt. There were two little bowls to the side where a tiny kitten was eating her dinner. _Thank magic he’s safe._

“Sorry… I just… You were missing… We were really… I’ll just…” For once, Remy really didn’t know what to say.

They motioned back the way they came and managed to take a step before Virgil called out. “Wait!”

Remy turned to their friend. Virgil struggled to decide what he wanted to happen but Remy understood. They waited as Virgil struggled to decide. Gala ran over and started rubbing her body against Remy’s leg before giving her human a _very_ pointed look. Virgil winced at the look but still didn’t say anything.

“Would you rather?”

Virgil slowly nodded so Remy continued. “Would you rather I stay or leave?”

“S-Stay.”

Remy slowly moved into the cave before asking their next question. “Do you want me to sit next to you or across from you?”

“Across.”

Remy slowly sat down on the other side of the fire. “Alright, talk or silence?”

“Talk.”

“About this issue or about random?”

“Random, for… for now, please.”

Remy nodded and started discussing evidence about Becca and Tiffany from their favorite restaurant obviously being in a relationship and thinking that they hadn’t noticed. Remy really didn’t care about the gossip, but this was how they could help Virgil for the moment, so they dug everything they could out from their brain. Virgil sat letting the words flow past him as he tried to decide what he wanted to say to Remy.

He picked at his jeans. “Why didn’t you tell me, Remy? I thought… I thought we shared everything.”

“Virgil, I didn’t tell you about my magic or Dee’s or even yours because it would hurt you. After what that bastard did to you? You didn’t need to know. You could have spent your days playing with plants and have never been the wiser. Yet, your powers are growing stronger. I don’t know what caused them to do so, and I honestly don’t care. What I care about is trying to keep you from believing those lies that bastard tried to instill in you.”

Virgil finally looked at them. “What other lies have you told me, Remy?”

They stopped, startled by the question. “As far as I’m aware, I have only told you one physical lie the entire time I’ve known you. I’ll admit that I’ve diverted conversation away from awkward topics, but you always knew that was what I was doing and let me do so. The only time I truly lied to you was when I told you I’d been arrested and all that about some aunt. Truth was, my mom died so I inherited her power and work. I spent the weekend learning the job and was told that I was to move into that house and do my job.”

He fell silent, staring at the fire, before finally asking. “Why should I trust you?”

Remy sat, thinking hard about this, trying to come up with an answer that could help ease Virgil’s fear, but… “Honestly? There isn’t anything I can answer that with, Virge. I can tell you until I pass out from exhaustion of how I try my best to protect you or try and list out every reason that I saw as a persuasive reason not to tell you about magic, but that won’t make a difference. You have every right not to trust what I say because I did keep a secret, a huge secret, from you when you had a right to know. All I have to say for myself is that I thought I was doing the best for you. The mere mention of magic sent you into anxiety attacks when we became friends. I didn’t want to imagine the state you’d be in if you knew you had magic.”

Virgil looked at his oldest friend. They were staring at the ground, miserably. Remy looked like they hadn’t properly slept in days. They had their hands in the black leather jacket Virgil had found at a garage sale years ago, holding the front close to their body. Their normal sunglasses were missing, which made Virgil wonder how their brain was handling so much blue light. Virgil could tell that Remy was a mess over this entire thing.

“That’s not a very convincing answer, Remy,” Virgil stated, before sighing. “Lucky for you though, I do see why you would think it best. Especially with how much…”

Remy waited for him to finish but he seemed like he was done. “Virgil, are you… are those memories yelling at you again?”

He paused, wondering if he wanted to just pretend like nothing was wrong, but honestly, Virgil really didn’t want to deal with more lying right now. “It’s kind of hard not to hear him screaming at me as I realized that I am what he said I am.”

“Virgil, you are not evil. You are not a freak.” Remy inched closer to him, very cautious of crowding him. “Yes, you have magic. That does not mean that he is right about you. Magic is not evil; _you_ are not evil. Emile would turn evil before you, Virge. Magic is a tool that we use, just like everything else. You don’t look at a pen and think of how many people you can stab with it. Magic is a tool and you are not evil.”

Virgil rubbed his eye, tiredly. “Yeah, thanks for that. It would have been more welcome a day or two ago. I’ve moved onto the part where I’ve begrudgingly accepted my fate. You lot only had to wait another day before I came back with my tail between my legs, like a good pup.”

Remy sighed. “We really screwed up. With everything. Though I will shove Dee back down his hole for going against what we decided when telling you and just kind of throwing it at you.”

“Yeah, punching your panicking friend like that is not a smart move. Zero out of ten would recommend. Rethink your strategies next time.”

Remy looked over their friend. “What’s going on in that head of yours, Virgil.”

“I’m fine.”

“I didn’t ask if you were OK or fine. I know you better than that, Vee. You have about twenty different variations of explaining to yourself that you are alright. I asked what’s going on in your head.”

“I do not.”

Remy gave him a look. “Vee, you’ve been doing it for years. You’ve done it literally a minute or two before an anxiety attack. You did it when you broke your leg two years ago. If you don’t want to talk to me, fine, I get it. Just say so.”

Gala ran over to her human and demanded scratches from him, while he answered. “Honestly, Remy, for once my mind is quiet. I’ve already worked through too many anxiety attacks for my dumb brain to keep overworking itself. I was getting ready to go to sleep before I heard you stomping around outside. I do have another question for you, though. If you are a sandman, why do you have a sleep disorder?”

“I’ve been asking myself that since my mom died, and I got thrown her powers.” Remy sighed. “Because life hates me? Just to remind me that I can do my best but will always fail? To taunt me that I can’t truly help anyone? Take your pick. Sleep sand doesn’t work on me and it doesn’t work on you, so guess it’s all of them.”

“Great, you also tried to magic me,” Virgil muttered.

Remy shrugged. “What did you expect from me? You barely sleep because of your anxiety. I tried to help and it didn’t work.”

“Wait, is that why you hit Dee rather than me when I came to the two of you about this mess?”

“No, it was more along the lines of he was being stupid and making everything worse. You needed to work through your fear and worry, and that would not have happened while you were asleep.”

Virgil hummed, staring back at the fire. Remy stayed quiet, watching their friend think. Remy tried their best not to wonder how many anxiety attacks Virgil had to have had the past couple of days. They didn’t want to think about how scared and confused he’d been. Forget about how hurt Virgil had to still feel about all this.

“Virgil, I am sorry for hurting you.” Remy’s voice was soft.

“Whatever, Remy. Like you said, there isn’t much choice anymore. I’ll get over it.”

“Don’t say that, Virgil. We hurt you, so it’s on us to prove that you can trust us again, not for you to pretend that everything is alright.”

“Remy, I get why you lot did what you did. I may hate it, but I understand. I’m too tired to really care at the moment.” Virgil stood up. “I want sleep before you drag me back home.”

“I’m not dragging you back. If you still need time… We were just worried about you, Virge.” Remy quickly said.

Virgil looked them over, tiredly. “No, I’ll need to start learning before I do something stupid.”

“Learning?”

Virgil grabbed the purple bag and dumped it next to Remy as he moved towards his sleeping bag. “Orders from some incorporeal voice who somehow knew where I hid a book I stole from that bastard. I may be an idiot and oblivious, but I can tell when it’s time for me to sit down and learn.”

He collapsed onto his sleeping bag as Remy stared at him with bug eyes. “In…incorporeal voice? Virgil! When did this happen!”

“First night. Now, shhh, I’m sleeping. Play with Gala or enjoy some reading material or, coffee forbid it, _sleep_.”

“We are going to have a _very_ long conversation about your trust levels with complete strangers when your dumbass wakes up.”


	26. Virgil Returns Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil returns back to his friends and apologies are given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Akituwu for the gender neutral idea of sand fam! I love it and had to use it.

_Swat… Swat…Swaaaat…_

“I would just teach you to open these cans if you wouldn’t just gorge yourself,” Virgil muttered to the persistent cat.

_“Mreow!”_

Once, her majesty Queen Galaxy had her breakfast, Virgil remembered that Remy was still here. He looked around and found the sandman curled under their jacket, fast asleep. Virgil rolled his eyes as he tossed the sleeping bag over the being. He noted that the bag wasn’t touched, so grabbed it and shoved it into his backpack.

 _Am I really willing to deal with them?_ Virgil munched on a granola bar, thinking over that question. He knew Remy was doing what they thought best for him. They had seen him react badly to the suggestion of magic. Heck, they were the one to suggest that he learn basic sleight of hand tricks from YouTube to ease some of his apprehension about the idea of hearing magic in normal conversation. Plus, he had basically broken down upon realizing the truth, so maybe they were right to want to keep the truth from him.

 _But, I had the right to know!_ They at least admitted that he had a right to know the truth. Well… he didn’t have the right to know about them and their magic, only about his own magic. _Did I overreact to everything?_ Virgil shook his head, thinking through that point. He had gone to them because he needed help understanding as he’d been lead by them to believe magic was fake and because of his own history… _Nope, not letting that bastard have another word in my brain anymore._

 _What do they want from him, though?_ This was the question that really bothered Virgil. Could he believe that they really didn’t want him to do something for them? That just _maybe_ they were his friends because they liked being friends with him? Remy had been his friend since he was thirteen and had returned to this cave, trying to ease the fear about that dumb book, during that snowstorm. That meant Remy waited eleven years before even suggesting that they wanted something from Virgil beyond their normal dynamic of best friends. If anything, Virgil was the parasite in their friendship, having lived off of what Remy got from apparently being a sandman.

That was the thing in his mind that really made him wonder why any of them would want to be friends with him. He offered nothing for any sort of relationship. Why would anyone want to be friends with someone who went into a full panic attack over the idea of magic? Why would anyone want to date someone who’s most successful skill was keeping plants from dying? Now he discovers that he can actually cast magic and it just kind of made more sense to him to think that everyone wanted that from him, over what little he offered otherwise. Yet, Remy waited eleven years? Dee and Remus waited seven years? Emile waited four years? For what? For his complete breakdown over discovering magic was real?

_“MROOOW!”_

Gala had her front paws on his knee and was giving her human a _very_ grumpy look. Virgil glanced at the food bowl and saw that there was still some wet food, so she wasn’t upset about that. She gave another scream before forcing him to pet her. When his thoughts tried to start thinking about the issue again, she would scream, making Virgil realize that she _knew_ he was thinking bad about himself. _I swear this cat._

_Ding!_

Remy, not even opening their eyes, pulled their phone out and muttered, “No.”

_Ding! Ding!_

“You might want to type that out for whoever is texting, Remy,” Virgil stated.

They dropped the phone and turned over. “You do it, please, gurl.”

Rolling his eyes, he reached over and grabbed the phone. “Uh, it’s Emile. You still want me to answer for you?”

“Sleeeeeeeepy, shooooosh.” Remy muttered.

Virgil unlocked the phone and quickly wrote that Remy was still asleep and that Virgil would kick their butt awake if Emile really needed to talk to them. Emile sent back that it was OK and that Remy just randomly stopped texting and it worried Emile a bit. He then added that he was in the nearby town but not to worry and take as much time as they needed to talk.

Virgil set the phone next to the sleeping figure. He started petting Galaxy trying to come to a definitive conclusion to what he was going to do about this entire situation. Gala tried to get him to stop, but he quietly told her that this was something he had to come to a conclusion on. She booped her paw to his nose but otherwise let him return to his thoughts.

Two hours passed in silence, while Virgil considered the facts he knew. Remy finally woke up about ten minutes after Virgil decided that while he’d take what his friends said with a grain of salt, he would still trust them. Remy muttered something about how they were supposed to stay up in case some killer came to get them but accepted a granola bar Virgil offered them.

“For telling me that magic is only a tool, you seem really agitated about me trusting some magic,” Virgil commented.

“Because magic _is_ a tool but there’s no saying what someone will do with it. I mean come on, Virge. How many times do I have to tell you not to accept candy from strangers!”

_“Mrrrph.”_

“Gala, you keep your human safe, you hear? I can’t get it into his head, maybe you can, gurl.”

She started purring as she curled up in his lap. Virgil rolled his eyes at her, but gave in to her cuteness and started petting her again. Remy nodded as they picked up their phone and looked at their message. Virgil picked the kitten up and deposited her into Remy’s lap. He stood and threw what little he had let spread across the cave into his backpack.

“Are you sure you’re ready to go back?” Remy asked, watching as Virgil carried his bag back to the front of the cave.

“We are stopping to pick up some food in town, but otherwise, I want a proper shower,” Virgil answered, picking the kitten up and setting her on his shoulder.

“She really likes being a shoulder cat,” Remy commented as they stood up.

“Maybe she’s training to become a parakeet.”

Remy offered a shrug before softly asking. “So, how are you taking all of this, Vee?”

Virgil groaned, rubbing his eye. “Emotionally drained? Otherwise, you’re late to the party. I’ve finally accepted that I’m a witch and am coming to terms with the idea of fairies, sandmen, and shapeshifters. I have a giant book of magic in my backpack that the bastard used to try and convince me that I was a witch that I now get to properly study because apparently, he was right about that. Which you lot are going to help me with for just dumping this mess on me. Basically, continue doing what we agreed all those years ago: prove that I’m better than what that bastard thought I’d be.”

“Of course, we’ll help you, Virgil. We’ve always had your back. Just tell us what you need from us and we’ll help.”

Remy watched as Virgil stretched out his hand and put out the fire with magic. He made a displeased face at his hand before turning away from the fire and starting on the hike back to town. Remy scampered after him, shocked that he had already started training his powers. Gala was purring, happy about things finally starting to work out.

“So, uh…” Virgil stared ahead, “what exactly does sandman powers entail, Rem?”

Remy collected their thoughts before explaining. “Basically, at night, I send out a bunch of sand to the houses within my area to promote sleep and dream sand for dreams. If I’m psychically close to someone, I can tap their memories as sleep processes memories and moves them to long-term. I can also alter those memories through extremely realistic dreams, but I haven’t actually tried that. It’s mostly a no-thought process job. Passes from parent to child once the parent dies. Get paid for the work, something like a portion of a tax or something. I don’t know.”

“Do you actually work as a library security officer then?”

“Yeah, I do a lot of reading and social media binges while pretending that people want to break into the library. Like I said, being a sand- ugh… I really don’t like that gendered terminology shit! Forget it! I’m only using sand-beings and forget about saying sandman or men or whatever! Viva la revolution!”

Virgil couldn’t help the grin, hearing normal Remy finally. “Alright, beach dirt.”

“Bitch, it’s sand-being now and forever!”

“Ocean rocks?”

“Gurl.”

“Baby glass?”

“Gurl!”

They continued to pick on each other the rest of the way to town. Emile literally ran into them arguing about the proper usage of sand fam. He was a bit shocked at how their relationship seemed normal, considering everything, but Remy pointed at him and screeched “sand fam!” to which Virgil shook his head and argued that Remy’s sand fam were at the beach.

After Emile gave the anxious man a hug and told him off for scaring all of them the way that he had, they told Virgil’s bag and put it in the SUV. Remy offered Virgil their messenger bag to hide the kitten in while they went and had lunch. Emile pursed his lips at their actions, but he was willing to overlook it as Remy tapped the kitten’s nose, sending her off into sleep, keeping their major rule-breaking a secret.

Several hours later, they arrived back to find Dee and Remus sitting in Emile and Remy’s living room. Remus screeched as he threw himself at Virgil. Even Remus didn’t know what he was screeching, but Virgil was home and he was safe so loud noise it was! Virgil awkwardly chuckled, patting Remus’s back, _very_ aware that he has not showered in what, four days?

“Alright trash rat, give the boy room to breathe,” Remy stated, cuddling purring Gala.

Remus made a pouty face at Remy but did step back from him. Virgil finally got a good look at Dee. If he had been a mess, Dee was just as much of a mess. Virgil could see the stress and worry he’d put his friend through. While Virgil wanted to think it was fair after literally turning into a snake without warning him, he couldn’t actually believe that. Dee looked so worried and relieved at the same time that it was impossible.

“Virgil, I am so sorry for… well, how I handled the entire thing. I knew you were upset and I just… made it worse.” Dee was on his feet but didn’t move closer to the anxious man.

Virgil rubbed the back of his neck. “I also didn’t make it easy on you, Dee. So, I’m…”

“No, you shouldn’t be sorry.” Dee cut him off. “You were freaking out big time and I pushed you further. It is my fault, not yours.”

“We both played a part and now let’s just move past it. I am still saying sorry for the things I said. They were completely uncalled for, even if I was upset.”

“I’ll forgive you if you forgive me?”

“Deal, now you lot watch Gala because I really need a shower and have already called it. We’ll probably want to… well _civilly_ discuss this mess. I will give you a hug once I am clean, Dee. Remus threw himself at me so I couldn’t stop him, but I really need to get clean.”

Dee let out a weak chuckle, the first in several days. “Fair enough.”


	27. A Civil Convo About Fairies... I Mean Magic!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group discusses Virgil's training and Dee admits a bit about his hatred of fairies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: mention of family member having cancer, discussion of past trauma

While Virgil was taking his shower, Emile and Dee had baked some cookies and Remy introduced Remus to the video _Dumb Ways to Die_. So, an hour later, the group gathered around the coffee table while Emile gently prodded Virgil to see how he was doing after everything… so all were munching while Emile talked Virgil.

“So, you’ll need to learn how to control your magic, Anx.” Dee said, gently. “Which means we’ll have to spend some time online looking for basic spells, potions, and whatever else for you to learn.”

Virgil blinked before digging through his backpack. “Why can’t we start with this?”

He dumped the purple bag onto the table before carefully pulling the ancient-looking book out from it. Remy dropped their cookie seeing the book plopped onto the table while Dee muttered a curse. Emile was mildly surprised, but he didn’t have much knowledge about this mess to really contribute. Remus screeched excitedly.

“Where the… How… Damn it, Virgil!” Remy shouted.

“What did I do this time! I literally gave you this yesterday to read through while I was asleep. I also told you about it before we left! What did I do this time!”

“I thought it was just a pretty bag you randomly found! You collect random shit enough that it was a fair assumption! And I didn’t expect an actual grimoire!”

“Uh, can I declare a no shouting rule?”

“Sorry, Emile.”

“Seriously though, Anx,” Dee waved vaguely. “Where in the world did you manage to obtain a fully written grimoire? And that looks to be an extremely old one, which only the ancient families tend to have ones that look like this.

“I… well… when I ran away… my d-…the bastard…” Virgil shifted uncomfortably before gulping and deciding to just say it. “My bastard dad said that it belonged to my mother, and it was his proof that I had magic. I kind of stole it when I finally ran away. I thought… well if he no longer had the proof that I was magic… well, no proof means it couldn’t be true, right? At least that was what I rationalized it as, but there was just something _wrong_ with the idea of leaving it behind because he had said it belonged to my mom and so it was all I had of her. But then everything felt wrong, so I buried it in the cave where Remy and I met and left it. Occasionally, I’d return and check on it, and that was how I ended up meeting Remy but some incorporeal voice, who only really spoke in bad rhymes, told me that I had to retrieve it and learn and while I was like no, my body was like yes, so I ended up going and digging it up and I managed to light a campfire with magic so it was like ‘shit I can cast magic’ and uhh…”

“Hey, uh, Virge? Can you breathe for me?” Emile asked, softly.

The conversation paused while Emile gently worked Virgil through grounding exercises. Dee felt like he’d been punched in the gut, remembering how he had suggested Emile and Remus go watch the new movie while Remy and he spoke with Virgil. It had made sense, but he now realized that having a trained therapist would have probably helped quite a bit with the discussion.

“So, basically, that bastard stole this from your mom and you rightfully took it back. That’s one way to obtain a grimoire.” Remy commented. “Makes our lives easier for teaching you, at least. It’s a nice and fancy one too. The leather for these things is always so salty that you could use it as a salt line just by holding it. Iron and silver to deter other beings trying to steal it. Protection wards. It has it all. Make sure those fairies of yours don’t touch this. It would do a number on them.”

“On the fairies, I’m letting you know now that I do not and have never trusted those pests. I will remain civil, but only because you are my friend, not because I trust those pests.” Dee stated, darkly.

“Uh… why?” Virgil was startled by this.

“Only because these two already know.” Dee spat. “I told you about my parents, Remus, and me being in an accident the day after our wedding. Mom died. Dad was relatively fine, given everything. Remus had his own damage, but I was told that I would never walk or a bunch of things ever again. Basically, lots of pain and suffering. My dad went and traded his life for mine in a deal and I did not agree to it.”

“Wait, you said your dad died of cancer though.”

“That’s the official cause of death, but I saw that vermin when he took my dad’s life and only partially healed me. All sunshine and rainbows while he did so.”

“Dee, you know that he did enough to show recovery and made it so that you healed over time so that the doctors didn’t question it,” Remus whispered. “It was his choice. Even he said that his cancer was going to kill him within a year.”

Dee folded his arms. “I’m not interested in discussing this any more than I have, Remus. I’m just telling you now, Anx, I do not like fairies. I’m not stopping you from whatever with them, I will only be civil for your sake.”

“Um… I’m not really sure how to respond to this, Dee.” Virgil shifted awkwardly.

“Just accept it and next time this idiot makes an entire conversation with everyone uncomfortable by glaring at your cuties, call him out on it,” Remy said. “Now, back to this grimoire. Virgil, you’ll need to specifically say that the four of us can read it, as it is well protected. I’d rather go the extra protection and permissions route than finding out that we missed something when your pretty little book here blasts one of us into the next dimension. That is if you want us to help you with what’s in the book.”

“Uh… OK? I grant the four of you permission to read from the book? Is that good enough?”

“He has no flair,” Dee stated.

Glad that they were returning back to their normal dynamics, Virgil stood up before dramatically bowing before Dee, offering the book to him. “I apologize, here doth I presenteth thee with a booketh and magiceth and ask thee to help a young witch not destroyeth the worldeth wheneth he-eth haveth an anxiety attacketh.”

“Too many -eths, not enough stage flair. I think you need a cape. That’ll add more drama.”

Emile threw a pillow at Dee, laughing. “No capes! Has Edna Mode not taught you that lesson! No capes!”

“Oh! You have declared war upon this day!” Dee announced before throwing the pillow at Remy.

The tension in the room broke as the five friends started a pillow war, screaming and laughing. There were only four throw pillows, but Remus didn’t need a pillow to be a worthy opponent. The blanket he got was practically a long-range weapon in his hands. After the stress, they’d all suffered the past couple of days finally seemed to end as they got whacked.

“Alright, yield!” Emile giggled. “How about we spend the rest of the night watching movies and just kind of destressing from the past week?”

“Here here!”

“Chill.”

“Sounds amazing.”

Remus gave his ‘I’m about to be inappropriate’ giggle to which Dee screamed over his answer “Nooooooooooo!”


	28. Magic 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil spends the day learning about Dee and Remy's magic.

Virgil woke up, freezing. He blearily looked around and realized an arm was wrapped around him. Mentally listing off every curse word he knew, Virgil squirmed and was greeted with the sight of Dee buried under five blankets, with Remus spooning him. _Bastard is stealing my warmth even in sleep!_

Virgil accepted his fate of being Dee’s cuddle partner but was not about to happily accept the lack of blanket. He carefully tried to pull the top layer off the sleeping man. A sleepy hiss came from him. Virgil felt a bolt of terror shoot through him, though Dee didn’t notice. In fact, Virgil found himself absorbed into the mound of blankets, where Dee squirmed in closer to the new warmth.

“Oh, great, the blanket monster absorbed Vee. Guess you don’t have to make chocolate chip pancakes, Remy.” Emile’s voice said.

“He wouldn’t have been if he left my blankets alone,” Dee muttered.

“Maybe you shouldn’t steal blankets we give your captives,” Remy answered. “But you sound to be awake so release the poor baby and come get breakfast.”

“Not my fault that I’m eternally cold!”

Virgil felt Remus’s arm gently separate him and Dee before pulling the muttering man into a tighter hug. “VeeVee has been freed!”

He took the chance and escaped. He was hit with the smell of breakfast and practically ran for the kitchen. Emile and Remy were grinning as the youngest of their group scrounged together a plate, acting as if they didn’t know he was in there. Emile did slap Virgil’s hand away from the pile of pancakes before pointing at the stove where pancake mix with chocolate chips in it was cooking.

“We didn’t expect Dee to snatch my blanket from you so fast. Figured we still had about ten minutes before the blanket war started.” He commented.

_“REMUS!”_

The three of them glanced into the living room. Dee was attempting to flee his husband’s grip. Remus was cackling evilly as he snuggled in closer. Before they could ask, they saw Remus stick his tongue into Dee’s ear and the man let out another shriek, desperately trying to get away again. Virgil made a face but turned his attention to pop a chocolate chip into his mouth.

Ten minutes later, they were all gathered at the table. Dee was scowling, muttering that Remus was a bastard, which the others decided to ignore. Virgil and Remus got into a mini thumb war, fighting over the last of the good pancakes. Unfortunately, Virgil lost, as that was when Gala decided to climb up his entire body to get to her favorite perch, ignoring that her claws did not sink solely into cloth. Almost with a pointed look at Dee, she licked the outside Virgil’s ear before rubbing her head against him.

“See! If Gala is allowed to do it, why can’t it!”

“GALA IS A CAT, YOU BASTARD! SHE ALSO DIDN’T STICK HER TONGUE INTO HIS EAR!”

“Oh, I need to get going!” Emile jumped up, after seeing the time. “I’ve got a couple of appointments to get to!”

Remy pulled him into a hug. “Go knock ‘em out, Emmy.”

“You are not allowed to run away from us again, you hear,” Emile stated, pointing at Virgil.

He held his hands up in surrender. “I won’t!”

“Oh, don’t forget to call those Stitch stealers out!” Remy called, as Emile started towards the garage.

“Now, on to you,” Dee stated, looking at Virgil. “I think the best thing to start with is getting you used to seeing magic.”

“What about seeing Aunt…”

“NO!”

“Seriously, I sometimes really wonder what it is with you and this Aunt Patty,” Remy stated to the snickering man.

Remus shrugged. “Chaos.”

Remy pursed their lips and squinted at the chaotic being, not trusting that answer but also scared to question it anymore. “Anyways… I think Dee has a good point. Considering how far you already are in working your own magic, it’s mildly ridiculous that you don’t notice magic around you. I mean seriously, it took you months to realize your cuties are fairies. That’s kind of pathetic.”

Virgil scowled but let Remy get away with the jab, as looking back, he also thought that same thing. “Whatever, so what do you two have planned then?”

“Planned? Nothing. We’re winging this just as much as you are. Every time, at least for me, I’ve tried to pick a real starting point, you randomly reveal that it’s already done. I mean seriously? Running away from magic only to pick up a book on magic?”

“Alright, can we please lay off on this? I get it. I am an idiot. I am oblivious. I am a complete and utter moron.”

“Hey, no talking bad about yourself,” Remy stated. “Only we’re allowed to call you a dumbass and that’s because we keep you from doing the really stupid shit you’ve tried to do.”

_“Mrrrph”_

“Oh, thanks, Gala. Glad to see you agree with them.”

“Anyways, how about we get you used to seeing me shift without the screaming and terror, yeah?” Dee asked.

Virgil scowled at him. “That’s not fair. I didn’t know and I was panicking and suddenly one of my best friends just randomly turned into a snake?”

Remy took plates from the table to start washing. “Still, sounds like a plan. You get the idiot for the day and I’ll show him sand magic tonight. Pretty sure I can pull books on magic for him to look at while I’m out.”

“And I still need to get him now kitchen stuff. Maybe see if we can find a bunch of the basic spell stuff.”

“And what do you have planned, rat-man?”

“Writing! Need to write at least three chapters today!”

“Of the murder-mystery or the grimdark?” Dee asked, curiously.

“Both!”

Dee groaned while Remy laughed. “Perks of being married to a creepy author, Dee.”

“Keeps him out of trouble, at least,” Dee commented. “Guess you’re coming with us, Vee.”

Half an hour later, Dee and Virgil sat in his study, discussing snakes. It felt so normal to Virgil, but eventually, Dee broke that normalness by showing him what his snake form looked like. With a breath, Dee seemed to shimmer and vanish. A giant snake took his place and plopped onto the ground. The snake let out a hiss before slithering over to one of the tons of heaters Dee had and curled up around it.

“Well, I… uh… guess I now understand your love of heaters.” Virgil offered, awkwardly. “Why am I having to watch you become a… uh… _giant…_ snake again?”

The shift back took a little longer before Dee appeared, sitting next to the heater. “Because it’ll help you: one, become more comfortable with magic; two, teaches you one of the basic kinds of magic; and three, witches are capable of learning tricks from other types of magic.”

“Uh… is this a bad time to remind you that I…uh… don’t particularly… like snakes that are… bigger than my arm?”

“Yes. But on the other hand, you can be sure that I won’t attack you. Too skinny and boney.”

“That’s rude.”

Dee grinned at him. “How many times have I told you that you have nothing to fear from a snake I try to introduce you lot too? Snakes are not scary.”

Virgil shut his eyes, wondering if he was really doing this. “OK, guess it’s exposure therapy time for Anxie.”

_“Meow.”_

“See, even Gala says you have nothing to worry about.”

Virgil looked at him in surprise. “Wait, do you actually understand what she’s saying?”

Dee thought about it. “Not exactly, but I have a general idea. It’s sort of like knowing a different language which you aren’t exactly good at but you understand enough? I’m much better with snakes. You should be able to understand her better as you build your magic. I’m fairly sure she is supposed to be your familiar.”

 _That reminds me…_ “That’s what you meant by familiar.”

“What?”

“Whatever, let’s just continue, I guess.”

Dee nodded before looking at Gala. “You are not allowed to claw me, understood?”

_“Mrrph”_

They spent most of the day discussing shapeshifting and how it worked. Remus burst in once to steal a picture of Dee’s snake fangs, but otherwise spent the day frantically writing, with lots of questionable noises coming from the other side of the hall, many of which made Virgil wonder if he was actually committing murder in there.

Eventually, Dee dragged Remus and Virgil out and they went to dinner, still discussing snakes and subtly discussing shapeshifting when no one was around to hear. After that, Dee took them to the store to pile lots of different colored candles, incense, special plates and cups, and a bunch of things that just kind of seemed excessive to Virgil into a cart.

“Are we really buying all of the witch supplies from a grocery store?”

“They don’t need to be fancy, just enough to get you started. Some things you’ll be better off getting from your pests.” Dee looked over the cart before glancing at Remus. “You think we’re missing anything?”

“Swords!”

“We are not getting Anx a sword. Knowing him, he’d just challenge his pest to a duel.”

Remus pouted but didn’t add anything, so Dee led them to the checkout. “Virgil, if I turn around and see you reaching for your wallet, I will let Remus bite you. I need to replace your pots and pans and the rest can be for the complete scare I gave you.”

“But…”

“No buts.”

Remus snickered “butt.”

“We are literally set for several lifetimes, Vee. Relax and just accept it.”

Virgil tried to fight him, but Dee kept refusing. Remus rolled his eyes before he dragged the anxious one away from the checkout line. Remus didn’t need Dee strangling one of their best friends over something so trivial for them. Dee eventually appeared with a cart full of bags. They grabbed the bags and walked back to Virgil’s house, listening to Virgil telling Dee that he didn’t have to buy everything and asking if he could do something in return.

Dee let out a hiss as they finally arrived at the anxious one’s home. He would finally be able to hear his own thoughts without Virgil’s insistence interrupting. No one commented on the mess that Virgil left as they set things down in the living room for him to sort through later. Gala poked her head out of Remus’s shirt, crying to be released. Dee and Virgil looked at him in mild horror, but he started humming as he set the crying kitten on the couch.

“Alright, you have like two hours before Remy’s shift starts. You should start putting things away or take a nap.” Dee commented. “Other than that, you’re good.”

Virgil sighed. “I need to put stuff away and clean up a bit. Thank you…”

“Nope, I’m done. Come on, Remus.”

“Bye-bye, VeeVee!”

Virgil sighed but got to work. He set the witch stuff on the living room table, deciding to deal with that last. He had a bad taste in his mouth as he recycled all of the paper he ripped up. He pulled the stuff that Roman had got him out of the trash, deciding that it could probably find use with the pile of witch stuff.

“Bitch, you better not have run away again!”

“Shit, I’ve been caught.” He commented, organizing his kitchen.

Remy appeared, with two drinks. They offered Virgil one of them. He accepted and took a sip to find that it was hot chocolate. He rolled his eyes, but still appreciated the warm drink. They left the house and got into Remy’s car. The ride was filled with Remy telling Virgil a story about a woman at the coffee shop who had looked like she was going to yell at the poor barista only to announce that she was constipated and hoped the coffee would help.

“Hey Nate, anything interesting?” Remy called as they entered the deserted library.

“As if.” the bored security guard answered. “Now that you are here, I’m going to go _find_ something interesting. Have fun with the books.”

Remy dumped their bag on a table as the door shut behind Nate. “Shocking, they were here. Usually, they are long gone by the time I get here. Anyways, we’ll go play with magic in like an hour or two. Tell me how your day was, Vee.”

Virgil shrugged. “Got over my anxiety about giant snakes. That’s about it.”

They honestly tried not to, but the snort that came out gave them an unamused look from Virgil. “Sorry, Anxie. It’s just that you _willingly_ went to the Realm of the Fae after discovering that they were fairies, with very little precaution and yet, a giant snake, which you have been forced to endure for years because of Dee, still causes you anxiety? We need to straighten your priorities.”

“I thought that they would eventually call their bluff and then once we were there, I was just on danger mode…” Virgil answered. “And my priorities have always been gay.”

This definitely made Remy laugh before they cut off as a thought hit them. “Oh, shit. I forgot to text your cuties that you’re safe.”

They pulled their phone out and started typing the message as Virgil stared on in shock. “Wait, you have…”

“Logan’s number, of course, I do. He was the sensible one of that adventure and traded numbers with me before you lot went flower picking.” Remy answered as they sent the message off. “I really ought to remember that there are three more who worry about you now. Oh well, best I can do is offer an apology and explain I put you first.”

Virgil did not look amused. “You know you don’t have to keep up this older-sibling pretense, right?”

“Bitch, how many times have I got to tell you that we are _soul-siblings_ and you are not getting away from me.”

Virgil finally chuckled before asking. “So, now what?

Remy nodded, before motioning the anxious one towards a cluster of bookcases. “Let’s go pick out some books for you before I forget and leave you doing nothing.”

“Great, I got a bunch of witch stuff from the general grocery store and am now picking out magic books from the library. Why do I feel like this is some sort of joke?”

“I promise it isn’t, Vee. There are plenty of people interested in magic and so the basic information on witchcraft is everywhere. What did you think was going to happen? We’d take you to some super-secret supernatural market? Sorry to say, but you can get everything online now. Even for the most complicated magic. Anyways, here you go. I don’t think you need more than two books for tonight.”

After that, time passed slowly. Remy finally nodded and motioned Virgil to a bean bag chair they’d brought over from the children’s section. Virgil felt a new spike of fear but did as he was told. Remy first showed him the sand that was used before sitting back, looking him over. Virgil seemed fascinated with the sand as he played with it. Once he’d started to lose interest, Remy decided to continue.

“Alright, now I want you to clear your mind. Start thinking ‘don’t think’ repeatedly. Do this until you kind of feel numb.”

Remy watched as Virgil followed their instructions. It took Virgil a while before his body relaxed and he looked to be asleep. Remy told him to open his eyes, but to keep his mind and body in this relaxed state. Virgil didn’t respond for a moment but slowly obeyed the order.

If Virgil hadn’t been halfway to falling asleep, he might have jumped back with a surprised shout. Remy was almost too bright to look at. Surrounding them were tendrils of sand going through walls and the ceiling. Around Remy, they had a weak little spinning mass of sand swirling around them. Virgil’s brain finally caught up and almost like a switch was flipped, the sand and brightness were suddenly gone with Remy sitting there, watching over him, carefully. 

“If you dare compare me to Sandy in Rise of the Guardians, I may just kill you,” Remy stated, grinning. “That is a right reserved only for Emile and I refuse any more people calling me that.”

Virgil quickly cleared that very thought from his head. “Uh… so what now?”

“We work on getting you capable of seeing magic without being half asleep. Then when I inevitably take a nap, you go read books on magic.” Remy answered. “Welcome to Magic 101.”


	29. Dee Really Doesn't Like Fairies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dee goes off on another anti-fairy rant after Remy adds them to the group chat.

“Alright, what color candle should you use when attempting a purification?”

“White?”

“Are you asking me?”

“White.”

“Remy! There’s a Dumb Ways to Die game!” Remus screamed.

“I’m busy, boo. Give me a moment.” Remy didn’t even look up from their phone. “And there.”

_Ting!_

_Ding!_

_Ding!_

_Mmmhhmm!_

Virgil gratefully grabbed his phone and saw a new group chat.

_[Trenta4SandBeing]: New group chat; features include: Anx’s fairies, Remy nickname updated, and a kitten tax. [sent at 1432]_

_[Trenta4SandBeing]: [sent an image] [image description: Gala in sundress with a flower hair pin] [sent at 1432]_

“SandBeing? Why did you change your nickname to SandBeing?” Dee asked, looking at his phone as well.

“Because viva la revolution.”

Dee looked at Virgil, “You know this beast the best, what?”

“Viva la revolution.”

Dee glanced at Emile who merely shrugged. “Viva la revolution.”

“VIVE LA RÉVOLUTION!”

“Beautiful French, rat-man.” Remy laughed.

“Oh, on the topic of nickname changes, I’ve been meaning to ask you, Vee. Why did you pick Anx’s Witch as yours if you were so against magic?” Emile asked.

Dee froze before he started doing the fish slapped-look thing. “No, it’s been Anx’s Bitch. It’s always been that until he changed it to his name.”

“Uh… no, it’s witch?”

Dee frantically started looking through his phone. “No, I could have… wait…when…noo… I could have sworn… What is happening!”

Virgil grinned. “Remember how Remy added Emile to our group chat without warning years ago? While we were still censoring ourselves, worried how he’d take it? Well, I had quickly changed the ‘b’ to a ‘w’ as witch is generally a substitute replacement for bitch. Then Remy broke and spilled and we found out that he was OK with cursing, he just didn’t curse himself? Yeah, so that happened and I just kind of never changed it back.”

“Which reminds me, change your name, gurl. It’s weird having a real name compared to the rest.” Remy moved over to Remus. “Alright, rat-man. Let’s play.”

_Ding!_

_[Logan]: Salutations, all. What is the purpose of this chat? [sent at 1440]_

“Did the pest really use ‘salutations’?” Dee asked.

_[Anx’sWitch]: hey lo, it’s just a group chat. Apparently Remy decided to add you. Change your name to something fun or else they will eat a brick [sent at 1441]_

“I just remembered. He has an old Nokia. Is a group chat even really usable on a Nokia?” Remy suddenly asked.

“He seems to be doing fine with it,” Remus answered.

Virgil shrugged. “Honestly, I wouldn’t put it past him to have magicked it to do whatever he needs.”

_[Logan changed their name to Logic]_

“Guess that answers that question.” Emile laughed.

_[Logic changed their name to PixieHallow]_

_[PixieHallow changed their name to Logic]_

_[Logic changed their name to NerdforBrains]_

_[NerdforBrains changed their name to AtLeastIHaveBrains]_

“I think Logan and Roman are disagreeing on what their nickname should be.” Virgil laughed.

“What was it again that you find attractive about these pests?”

“They are hot gay fairies interested in me?”

 _[AtLeastIHaveBrains_ _changed their name to HowDareU]_

_[HowDareU changed their name to YesIDare]_

_[HissHissMfs]: alright, stop it. Pick a name and be done w/ it [sent at 1446]_

_[Anx’sWitch]: give the phone to pat to decide your name or you 2 will end up killing each other [sent at 1447]_

The next change didn’t immediately happen, so the group returned to what they were doing. Remy and Remus were playing Dumb Ways to Die while Dee and Emile quizzed Virgil on basic information he’d spent the past two days memorizing. Gala entertained her bored-looking human by attacking the wiggling things on his hand.

_[YesIDare changed their name to FairySweetCookies]_

“Emile, I think you have competition for the sweetest being in the group,” Remy commented.

Dee groaned. “They made a fairy pun.”

“Rich coming from you, Hiss Hiss Mfs,” Virgil stated.

_[Anx’sWitch]: good choice, pat. [sent at 1456]_

_[FairySweetCookies]: I feel utterly ridiculous. How is anybody supposed to take me seriously with this name? [sent at 1458]_

_[Anx’sWitch]: u wear a necktie, ergo u r serious. [sent at 1459]_

_[FairySweetCookies]: Oh, Virgil, did you possibly consider our request? [sent at 1501]_

_[Anx’sWitch]: uhhhhh… sorry but I haven’t really thought about it. I’ll consider it and let u know [sent at 1503]_

“Care to share with the class what this request is, Anx?” Dee asked.

“Oh…” _No, not particularly._ “They… well… uhh…”

“If you don’t want to share, you don’t have to, Vee,” Emile stated, shooting a glare at Dee, daring him to argue.

Virgil shifted, awkwardly. “They asked me if I would like to join their relationship, but the request part is more towards joining as their witch.”

“Obviously you have to say no to those filthy little pests.”

“Hey, that’s rude, Dee. Virgil is able to make his own decisions.”

“What part of fairies are bastards who steal names to force people to do their bidding have you forgotten?”

“Knock it off, Dee. We’ve spent time with these three and I think they are good for Virgil, so let him decide what he wants to do.”

_[HissHissMfs]: you lot can’t take anx from us. No to this request. Absolutely no. [sent at 1509]_

_[Trenta4SandBeing]: bitch, wat did I just tell u to ur face? It is anx’s decision. [sent at 1509]_

“No, letting a friend date those pests is as far as I am willing to budge!”

“Too bad it’s not your decision.”

“Uh… Dee, I think you should breathe.”

_[HissHissMfs]: date fine, be ur witch no. [sent at 1510]_

_[What’supDoc]: Dee, maybe you should talk through aloud this rather than blow up the group chat? We happen to be sitting right here. [sent at 1511]_

_[FairySweetCookies]: I take it that Virgil just informed you all of us asking him to join our relationship. [sent at 1511]_

_[Anx’sWitch]: ya, we were working through magic basics and it just kinda happened. Ignore Dee. I’ll think about it. [sent at 1512]_

_[StinkyTrashRat]: DEEDEE! GIMME KISSY! [sent at 1512]_

Dee went bright red as his husband smiled excitedly, making grabby hands in his direction. Dee muttered something but did move over to kiss his husband’s cheek. Remus yanked the other into his lap and started rubbing his mustache against Dee. Dee was screeching but he didn’t really try to escape.

“I guess that’s one way to get Dee off his tangent,” Remy commented.

“Well, it is Remus. He’s good at distractions.” Emile shrugged.

It took a couple of minutes of Remus playfully torturing Dee before he gave in and snuggled closer to his husband. Remy and Emile rolled their eyes at the overt affection they showed each other. Emile then glanced over at Virgil to find him awkwardly flipping through the spellbook before him.

“Vee, you alright there?”

Virgil winced, _not a good sign._ “Uh… yeah. Just uh… just thinking?”

“About?” Remy asked, gently.

He curled in on himself, risking a small glance towards Dee. “About accepting?”

“No!”

Remy immediately willed a handful of sand into their hand. They glanced at it, hearing Dee screaming again. It looked to be the correct mix, so they threw the handful straight into the air. They waited and was relieved that they hadn’t caused any comas as the sand sprinkled on the five beings in the room.

“This is a new kind,” Emile commented, brushing a little extra off of himself. “It’s not a sleeping kind, so what did you go for?”

Remy’s eyes tracked Dee’s movements as he sank back onto the couch and into Remus’s arms. “Relaxant? Dee, breathe, please. We all understand that you are extremely… _nervous_ about the fae. You’re only going to hurt yourself if you continue to panic.”

“We don’t need you accidentally shifting in the middle of a panic attack, Dee. You were lucky last time that it was a nice split between human and snake. I don’t want to risk you putting yourself in a worse situation than that one.” Remus said, gently.

“I’m sorry!” Virgil squeaked out finally. “Forget it, I’ll just say no.”

“No, Virgil, you will hold off on telling them any answer,” Emile stated. “At least until you’ve decided outside of an emotionally charged environment. We will return to your decision once we have Dee calmed down and work out how to best handle the situation for him before moving forward and discussing the implications of the decision with you. Does that sound alright?”

Virgil slowly nodded, before closing the book. “Gala, you’re essentially an emotional support creature, go torture Dee rather giving me more tiny cuts on my hand.”

Gala looked over before going down and doing a little butt wiggle, preparing to pounce. She shot off but wasn’t even close to reaching the snake man. She found her face hitting the floor, but that didn’t stop her! She was already scrambling up the side of the couch as if this had been her plan all along before climbing up the yellow human’s shirt to boop him on the nose.

“Perfect, amazing work,” Remy commented.

“Get your cat’s claws out of me.”

Remy gently pulled the kitten off of Dee and set her in their lap. She kneaded their thigh before curling up, purring. Remy cooed at her, pulling a new bow they’d been waiting to place on her from their pocket. Her purring paused but started back up immediately as soon as she realized what they were doing.

“OK, so now that you are actually breathing, why don’t you tell us why you do not think Virgil should join a polyam relationship with three fairies,” Emile said.

“That is not the part that I have an issue with.” Dee hissed. “In order to become those pests’ witch, he will have to enter a deal with them. I do not care what these fairies act like, all fae deals have hidden clauses and whatnot to best benefit the fairies.”

“Well, from what Logan told me, this would literally do nothing but give me access to the fairy circles for travel. It would really only benefit them in general as they’d be able to leave the circles.”

Remy nodded. “From what I know, that’s probably true, since you are a Natural Witch.”

“This means that you have no reason to enter a deal with those pests!”

“They did know VeeVee’s name so they could have done something, even if not as drastic as forcing him to be their witch. These three seem alright, Dee.” Remus commented, setting his chin on Dee’s shoulder.

“They would require Anx’s last name to force him to do anything,” Remy stated.

Virgil sat up, remembering something that might make this decision of his settle easier for his friend. “Logan told me that there is basically a contract and we discussed some ideas of what could go into it. What if you helped create it? It would give you peace of mind because if anyone could find a loophole, it is you.”

Remy grinned. “That would also be a good way to slip your own little ‘screw you’ as the deal would be with the Fae prince and his partners. I also happen to know that a certain Fae King has made most, if not all, official documents of the court available to the public. People tend to follow their leader’s choices and if Roman gets into a fae deal that basically leaves him unable to twist something to his will… well, who’s to say that it won’t start a full-on social change?”

Dee narrowed his eyes at Remy, thinking. “Proof-reading something like that would require hours of work, and I can’t guarantee I’d find everything.”

“We’ll help, then! Anything to keep Virge safe and ease your worry!” Emile answered, cheerfully. “While Remus and I may not be well-versed in all that magic stuff, we are good with language. If his novels show anything, Remus can twist words to accomplish just about anything. I’m professionally trained to notice terminology that appears off. I don’t think anything that receives approval from all of us can really be reworked badly.”

“While you consider that,” Remy said, turning to Virgil. “You do know that accepting this deal means that you will be attached to three fairies?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I did discuss a lot of this with Logan already. Believe it or not, I also talked with a couple of other witches who said that there are loads of resources available for training new witches.”

“Geez, no wonder you were dead exhausted when I came and got your butt after your adventure in the realm of the Fae,” Remy stated. “You spoke with random beings? Willingly?”

“So you picked me up! I was wondering how I ended up back home. What did you completely baby me once we were back?”

“I handed you clothes and made you some soup while you were half awake. Managed to get the make-up off while you were mindlessly shoveling soup into your mouth. Gave Gala some food and water as well. Basically, I was dealing with a drunk.”

“Another question: who left me the box that literally drove me insane? I thought it was Remus, but thinking back on it, I remember there being sand on it.”

“It was my idea!” Remus cheerfully announced. “DeeDee printed out pages upon pages of information before Remy dumped it on you!”

Remy gave Virgil a pointed look. “And since you bring that up, I want to remind you that you handed a sand being a stack of information on sandmen and a fairy a stack of information on fairies. Logan and I bonded fairly quickly over that obliviousness of yours.”

“And that box of information sent my anxiety through the roof for two whole weeks,” Virgil answered, with a hint of irritation. “But glad you got a kick out of it.”

Emile weakly shrugged. “I believe that was the intention behind Remus’s suggestion. You showed up right as the idea was being thrown around and before I’d managed to knock the thought out of their collective bee-mind.”

“Anyways…” Remy coughed. “So, Virgil, you seem to already know about the consequences of becoming those three’s witch. Do you still want to accept?”

Virgil risked a glance at Dee, to which Remy snapped their fingers in his face. “No, don’t worry about what Dee’s reaction will be. This is only on you. Yes or no.”

“…yes.”

Remy turned to Dee. “Will you be OK with this if you make a beautiful ‘he’s not completely yours’ deal?”

“What if there’s no way to fully exclude what might…”

“I know that you can weasel out anything gross so I’ll tell you what, Dee. If you are still not comfortable with the deal after these three had approved it, I will say no to the deal, alright?” Virgil stated. “I will ask what about it that makes you uncomfortable, just to see if I can add anything to shift it, but I will respect what can and cannot be overlooked.”

“Uh… Vee, that’s a… big promise.” Emile shifted uncomfortably. “Are you sure about this?”

“I am, but I also am assuming that the three of you will keep an eye and make sure he doesn’t say no just so I don’t do it. If he doesn’t give it his best shot, a sand-being who can sense memories, a psychologist, and his own husband will be able to tell.” Virgil answered.

“Well, yes or no, Dee,” Remy stated, shocked at the trust Virgil was willing to place on all of them.

Dee looked over Virgil, thinking about the entire situation. _That is a lot of trust from someone who didn’t have many reasons to currently trust him._ Dee was tempted to agree and tell him no, as there is always some loophole in fae deals, yet, Virgil did seem to know what he was doing. He’d already researched the idea from the sound of it. _Plus, the idea of blocking every twist a fairy tried in one of their deals, particularly with the prince of all beings, was a challenge that Dee really enjoyed the thought of…_

“Damn it, fine. Yes, I’ll agree to this.”


	30. Gay Disaster is Totally a Medical Condition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fairies see Virgil again and begin deal discussions!

_[Anx’sWitch]: hey lo, you available to talk? [sent at 1355]_

_[FairySweetCookies]: Is this an urgent request? If not, I am finishing up some work, but will be available in about half an hour. [sent at 1358]_

_[Anx’sWitch]: no, not urgent. Whenever ur done [sent at 1359]_

_[Anx’s Witch]: btw, Dee and Remy will be here with me. I’m currently not allowed breaks in their terrible witch-training plan. [sent at 1401]_

Logan grinned at the phone before setting it aside. The idea of seeing Virgil made finishing up the report he was working on quite hard. They hadn’t seen him since the end of Samhain and have only heard from him over text in the past week. Remy had updated them that Virgil knew the full truth and was now training his magic before Virgil had sent an apology and explanation for his disappearance. _Yes, seeing the anxious man will be nice._

While he would never admit it aloud, Logan rushed through the report. Without a doubt, there would be some minute mistake that he would notice later and curse himself for, but honestly, that report did not matter as much as the person he wanted to see. He gave it to Joan– who sensed Logan’s distraction and decided to give the report a once-over for him– before sprinting to their set of rooms and changing into something more acceptable than lounging clothes. Patton was in there reading something and Logan somehow managed to miss noticing him until he turned from his wardrobe, clutching a nicer shirt and pants.

“Dear Newton! Patton…When did you… I…” Logan adjusted his glasses. “I apologize, Patton. I did not realize you were here, otherwise, I would have said hello.”

Patton giggled. “You looked intent, so I wasn’t going to interrupt. What’s up, teach? You look more relieved than angry, meaning it isn’t a Roman-mess.”

“Virgil asked if I was available to talk,” Logan answered, feeling a small smile twitching his lips.

Patton jumped up, accidentally dumping his forgotten book on the ground. “Ohh! Do you think he’d mind if I came?”

“Well, he said that the sandman and shifter were with him, so I do not believe it to be too serious. We can always ask once we see him or actually…”

He pulled out the phone and sent the question to the anxious man. The response of ‘of course pat can come, ro too if he isn’t grounded’ came fairly quickly. Logan relayed the answer to Patton who did a happy wiggle as he squealed excitedly.

Patton ran for his wardrobe and pulled out a cardigan, polo shirt, and some khakis. “If you’re getting dressed up, so will I! Do you think we should tell Roman?”

Logan considered it before sighing. “While I do not wish to disturb him, considering how long it took me to finally get him in a seat and working, I think it would be wrong not to at least inform him. We have all been very concerned over Virgil’s well-being, so it would be unfair to Roman if we didn’t inform him and bring him along.”

Once the two of them changed, they hurried off to Roman’s study where they could hear the prince singing along to musicals. Patton smiled as he opened the door to show Roman working at his desk, as he sang. They watched long enough to see him raise his pen to his mouth like a microphone, belting out his favorite line before putting the pen back to the paper. Logan managed to turn the music off before Roman noticed that he was no longer alone.

“Hey! I’m working, so you aren’t supposed to touch my music!”

“Lucky for you, something came up. Virgil wants to meet me and one thing led to another and he has no issue with Pat and you coming as well. Considering how worried all three of us have been about him, I’m willing to let my time getting you to work be wasted.” Logan answered.

Roman was instantly on his feet. “Let’s not keep our dark prince waiting any longer then!”

They arrived on the hill to find Virgil and Remy in a heated debate about something while a giant Burmese python curled around Virgil. Roman was already drawing his sword, screaming for Virgil to be careful. The two friends and snake seemed to be startled. The snake tightened itself around Virgil, who squeaked.

“Dee, release! Too tight.”

The snake shimmered and the human appeared, at least looking apologetic, despite being curled around his friend. “Sorry, Anx.”

“Uh huh, I’ll believe that as much as I believe you’re a cuddler.”

“Take that back!” Dee did scramble away, bright red.

“Bitch, you are! Just accept that we know this and move on!”

Virgil stood up and moved over to the red fairy, who was still holding his sword, confused. “You know, I’m fairly sure it goes against the code of chivalry to chop down an unsuspecting opponent. At least tell me to stretch my head out a bit more for you to chop off.”

“You… snake… danger? No… danger?” Roman was blinking wildly.

“No danger. Now put your giant knife away before you hurt someone.”

“VeeVee!” Patton screamed suddenly before throwing himself at the anxious man.

Lucky for Virgil, he had gotten used to Patton’s greetings so easily caught the fairy and hugged back, laughing. “Good to see you too, Pat.”

“We were so worried! Then Lo told us that Remy told him that you were missing and that only worried us more but you’re alright!”

“Yeah,” Virgil now looked a bit awkward as he shrugged. “I got blindsided a bit too much. I just needed fresh air and time to think away from everything. But I’m back and fine. Got everything worked through for the most part. Now I’m suffering from these two trying to teach me a lifetime of information in a month.”

Logan stepped forward and set a hand on the human’s shoulder. “Still, it’s good to see you are safe and sound, Virgil.”

“You are dating Patton, so I know you know how to hug.”

Logan’s face felt hot, but he smiled and pulled the anxious man into a hug. He stepped back and noticed Roman pouting, slightly. Virgil didn’t even turn around before reminding Roman that his sword was still out. Roman glanced at it and easily sheathed it. Once it was out of the way, Virgil moved over and pulled the pouting prince into a hug.

“So, what is it you wished to discuss, Virgil?” Logan asked once they had all sat down.

“Before Anx agrees to your little witch-deal, Emile, Remus, Remy, and I will look over the deal to make sure that our best friend is safe,” Dee stated. “If not, he is not joining some shady deal with you three.”

Logan blinked, processing what he said. “Wait, so you want to draft a deal, Virgil? Does this mean you want to…”

“Yes, I do, but as I am apparently a completely oblivious idiot, I agreed that my friends could look it over and tell me if it’s alright or not.”

“So, either you agree to let us take part in the creation of this deal or his answer is no.” Dee insisted.

“And, of course, we understand that princey over there will have to have his people look it over as well,” Remy answered. “It’ll probably take 5ever, but still.”

Logan glanced at his partners. “I have no issue with this. Do either of you?”

“Nope!”

“For our dark knight here, I’m willing to wait for however long that process takes.”

“Cool, so do you want to start discussing the basics now or later?” Remy asked.

“I can pop back to the castle and pick up the basic deal to start with and we can alter as needed.” Logan offered.

Remy nodded. “Sounds good. While we do this, Vee, you are to memories the next passage.”

Logan grinned as the anxious man flopped onto the ground, groaning. “Can’t I take a break?”

“No.”

“Ugh, fine. But I’m allowed to talk.”

“Ooooh, what are you studying, VeeVee?” Patton asked, squirming closer.

Virgil rubbed his eye. “Some cleansing spell.”

Logan glanced at Remy. “Already? You told me that he’s only been properly studying magic for roughly a week. He should still be on meditation and learning the uses of a witch’s tool bag.”

“Yeah, well, he has also managed to cast magic on his own already, so we had to give and start spell work, so he knows how to actually control his magic, over random bursts.”

Logan glanced over his partners and Virgil. “I think I will also grab some of the beginner magic training resources. I will return shortly.”

Virgil jumped as Logan vanished. _Come on you idiot, get used to seeing this stuff!_

“Virgil, take a deep breath,” Remy stated, gently.

The man did so before picking the book back up. “Anyways…”

“Are you alright?” Patton looked over him worriedly.

Virgil didn’t even consider lying. “I am emotionally exhausted, but I have decided to ride through this entire situation dealing with it so that when I am finally fully rested, I will be desensitized to it all. It’ll be fine.”

Patton immediately gave him a serious look, which unsettled the anxious man. “Virgil, emotional exhaustion is not something to dismiss so… lightly!”

“We aren’t, Patton.” Remy sighed. “We’ve kept an eye on him. Unfortunately, this is an unavoidable stress, so we’ve made sure he’s at least taking care of himself physically.”

“And there’s a psychologist keeping an eye on him as well,” Dee muttered.

Patton didn’t look happy about this. “Virgil, can I do at least a basic check-up on you?”

“What are you, some kind of doctor?” Dee sneered.

“Yes, I am. I am the head medic of the emergency care unit in our realm.” Patton’s voice held so much certainty and authority that Dee might as well have just been slapped by the fairy before Patton looked back at Virgil. “May I, Vee?”

Virgil meekly nodded as his brain once again started the gay panic alarm. He froze up but let the intent fairy do what he wanted. Remy could almost swear that they heard the alarm running through Virgil’s head. They rolled their eyes, glancing at Dee, who still looked a bit thrown. _Why am I friends with these idiots?_

Logan reappeared as Patton checked Virgil’s pulse, for the _third_ time. Logan blinked at the scene before him, seeing Pat with two figures against the human’s neck and an eye on his watch. He looked around only to find Roman sharpening his sword while Dee and Remy were discussing some science project Emile and Remus were working on together.

“I don’t understand,” Patton finally muttered. “Why is your pulse so rapid?”

“Hey, wings, have you heard of a gay panic?” Dee called over. “Yeah, he is probably close to combusting if you keep touching him.”

Virgil went bright red and buried his face into the ground. Patton gave a soft ‘oh’ before nodding and sitting back. Roman and Remy lost it and were practically rolling around, laughing. Logan heard a mumble from Virgil, but he couldn’t make it out.

“Oh, LoLo! You’re back!” Patton announced, trying to save Vee some embarrassment. “What’s up? You look bamboozled!”

Logan awkwardly cleared his throat. “It was just odd not being the one forced to undergo one of your exams.”

“Well, if you nerds actually took care of yourselves, Patty-Cake wouldn’t have to go into medic mode!” Roman answered, grinning.

“Thank you for your observation, Roman.” Logan deadpanned, before turning to the sandman, who was slightly less intimidating than the shifter. “I have the stuff. Ready?”

“Sure, let’s get this over with,” Dee commented. “Oh, and Anx, don’t think you’re getting out of being made fun of for being such a gay disaster!”

Logan couldn’t help the grin as he heard a muffled “I hate you both.”

“Love you too, gay disaster,” Dee answered, grinning.


	31. To Discuss a Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A discussion on Fae deal, King Thomas trying to play match-maker, and Mothman.

_If this pest weren’t a fairy, he’d be half-decent._ Dee hated that he could admit that to himself. So far, two weeks have past and they’d made fairly remarkable progress in making a deal. Logan was incredibly intelligent, and he seemed to want this deal to be as foolproof as possible, for Virgil’s sake.

“You will want to use a different word here. This is too vague and can leave room for argument if something were to accidentally happen.” Logan stated.

Dee’s head hit the ground, irritably. “You just said the opposite about a different phrase!”

“I am aware, but that particular word choice was too narrow for the context. The way it was written would mean that if the deal were to end, he would forfeit magical texts he will likely obtain during the duration, leaving him with the single grimoire. Here, the language is too vague so someone may argue that Virgil so much as saying a word opposing one of our ideas could be taken as a violation.”

Remy took a sip from their coffee, mentally laughing at Dee’s irritation. “I can see why you were the prince’s selection for his advisor.”

Logan shrugged. “King Thomas chose me to be Roman’s advisor after witnessing a disagreement between the two of us. He said that it was due to my willingness to state my opinion regardless of Roman’s status.”

Remy peeked over their sunglasses at him. “I have a feeling you disagree with your king’s justification.”

“We are all entitled to our opinions,” Logan answered, scanning the document. “But, yes. I have my suspicions that he was… what is the term? Oh, he was trying to hook us up. I have no evidence before you ask, but it was the way he studied our interactions shortly after issuing my assignment.”

Dee narrowed his eyes at the fairy. “Why are you so open with this information, pest? Isn’t it treasonous for you to be this open?”

“I have shared no national secrets with you, shifter. I am free to share my own opinions.” Logan circled another word choice he wanted to be fixed. “Regardless, even if you were to obtain national secrets, you wouldn’t share it. You wouldn’t put your husband or friends in danger over something like that.”

“Oh, really? Are you so certain in your read on me, pest?” Dee demanded, hoping to bluff his certainty, despite knowing that it was completely true.

“It is part of my job to identify threats to my prince. I am well versed in reading a person. You may have your own inhibitions about us, as you insistently show through your usage of pests when referring to us, you put your husband first and friends as a very close second over your own inhibitions. Our working relationship is balanced upon our connection and love of Virgil. Even if I shared something as preposterous as a fairy invasion into… I don’t know… this realm, you’d keep it to yourself so long as you and your own were safe.”

“So that’s what your plan is!” Dee screeched.

Remy sighed. “Dee, relax. It was an example. Plus, like he said, you’d keep it to yourself. Anyway, do you think someone as intelligent as this beast would _really_ spill a state secret?”

“It could be some reverse psychology thing where he can drag us down with him!”

“Dee, you do hear how ridiculous you sound, right?”

Logan grinned, considering it. “Actually, that does sound like a feasible idea, if I actually had any animosity towards you all. But that would jeopardize Virgil’s emotions and safety. Hopefully, you can at least admit it to yourself that I am highly concerned with protecting him.”

Dee mumbled, “only redeeming quality for you pests.”

“Anyway, do you think these will actually get approved?” Remy asked, looking over the deal. “From the surface level, this looks to favor Virgil over the three of you.”

“Yes,” Logan answered, setting aside his pen for now. “Deals are required to pass the Cassandra Mage Protections statutes, which ensure that witches are well protected within deals.”

“And when were you going to mention this set of laws of yours?” Dee asked suspiciously.

Logan shrugged. “There has been no reason to do so. Both parties in crafting this deal are intent on keeping Virgil safe, so we are automatically adhering to them.”

“What are these statues? I haven’t heard or read of them before.” Remy asked.

“Protections and rights Witches retain regardless of whatever is stated within a Fae Deal. I doubt that any reference out here would discuss them as they are still relatively new and the prevailing idea that fae are selfish pests kind of bury any good protocols we have for witches.”

“New?”

“Technically, the statues were passed earlier in King Thomas’s reign. There has been a massive trend towards protecting witches, particularly in recent history, but King Thomas and the King’s Witch pushed for more protections written in law. There were some who opposed, but after… well after Thomas lost his husband, he’s had little resistance to changing those protections.”

Remy looked over the many pages they had spread before them. “Well, if you saw no reason to bring those up, we are… uh… compliant with these statues?”

“Yes, of course.”

_“What do you mean that the tooth fairy isn’t real? I’m supposed to believe all of this is real but not the damn tooth fairy! What, are you next going to tell me that Mothman doesn’t exist either?”_

In unison, Dee and Remy groaned. “Damn it, Virgil.”

Remy ran a hand through their hair. “I think this is a good time to call it for the day. Vee’ll want to go searching for Mothman now with Rat-Man.”

 _If those two even think of setting up another sheet and flashlight, I might just murder them._ Dee mentally started wondering how quickly he could hide all the things that those two dummies could use to attract moths, while he heard Logan ask what Mothman was. Remy started to explain as Virgil –who was now pouting about his crushed dreams– and Patton came over.

“Oh, that sounds like Red-Eyed Bob!” Patton giggled to Logan, hearing Remy explain.

“Red-Eyed Bob?” Virgil asked.

“Yeah, he’s got these kind of creepy red eyes which caused people to start referring to him that way!” Patton answered.

“Sounds like Mothman, and makes sense that a winged-man would be a fairy, but a fairy circle that big in West Virginia?” Remy considered.

“You say, standing in a twenty-feet circle in Florida,” Logan commented. “Regardless, I believe that my workload just received another task.”

Virgil had a little excited glitter in his eye as he asked. “If this Red-Eyed Bob is the source of the Mothman myths, you lot better introduce me to him once this deal finally is done.”

Remy threw an arm around the excited man. “You. Stop annoying your cuties with conspiracy stuff. Let the poor advisor see if the connection is real or not first.”

_“Mreow!”_

Dee looked at the kitten sitting on Virgil’s shoulder, dressed in a light purple sweater vest today. “Guess she told you, Vee.”

“Oh come on, Galaxy! I’m the one who feeds you.”

Remy reached over and scratched under her chin. “But a best friend keeps spoiling the little princess with lots of adorbs outfits and bows and toys.”

Patton pulled the witch into a tight hug. “Guess playtime is over, bestest friendo!”

Logan glanced at his watch. “We should be heading back. Roman will be escaping his current meeting soon for dinner.”

“Tell the royal annoyance that he better get his work done on time tomorrow,” Virgil stated. “The local bird populations haven’t been scared away by his serenades in a week.”

Dee looked at the fairy. “That reminds me of a question for you, advisor pest. Do you lot really let your prince just roam around willy-nilly without protection?”

Logan raised an eyebrow at him. “We try not to, but I believe I understand your question to be pertaining to his visits to this circle while in the presence of this group. There are precautions taken before he even considers stepping out of the palace. On top of that, both Patton and I are cleared to be his formal guard on trips such as this.”

Remy glanced at the fairy dressed in cargo shorts and a polo shirt. “I don’t really see how this one could be a guard…”

“Patton is well-trained in a Japanese weapon called an _urumi_ or a whip sword. Even I can’t beat him with that weapon.” Logan answered, smiling at his partner who was cooing at the kitten who was trying to pet his head.

Patton giggled. “Yeah, look!”

Stepping back, Patton seemed to pull the weapon out of thin air. He easily swung it around before flicking it at some grass, easily cutting it with the multiple whip blades. He giggled as he easily made it vanish once again. Logan and Virgil gave the man applause while Remy nodded impressed. Dee was suddenly reconsidering everything he had finally at least begrudgingly accepted about these fairies and now really wishing that Logan wasn’t so good at writing contracts.

“I will not disclose what I am capable of, mostly just to annoy the shifter, who appears to have regained his full distrust in us,” Logan stated. “Now, I believe all of us should be returning for dinner. Same time tomorrow?”

“Actually, it’ll be Emile and Remus coming tomorrow. Have to occasionally let Dee have a day without fairies. Plus, it’s now more language-oriented discussions, which those two are a whole lot better than either of us at.” Remy answered. “But, yes, they’ll be here at the same time as usual. Patton and Roman can entertain this misfit with whatever they want to teach him, as I’ve overheard Patton suggesting lessons.”

“You do know that this means that Roman and Virgil will most likely end up sword fighting, right?”

“Yeah, but I figure this sweet little cupcake will at least attempt teaching him something before the prince gets bored.”

“When am I going to be allowed to choose when and what I learn? Like, come on.” Virgil muttered.

Dee looked him over. “Because you wouldn’t then. We’re helping you build up the habit of learning. Once we’re sure you’ll keep to it, then maybe ask again.”

He groaned. “It’s college all over again with you lot, I swear.”

“You know we’re torturing you only out of love, though.”

“Yeah.” He hugged Logan and Patton. “See you two tomorrow!”


	32. The Deal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for a deal.

Another two weeks passed with Remus and Emile handling discussions with Logan. The fairy enjoyed the two humans’ company more than the sandman and snake shifter. At very least, they were less suspicious and hateful than the shifter. Once the language was finally hammered out, everyone read the deal and pointed out minor changes that endured Dee’s insistent examination and then Emile’s word choice analysis. Finally, even Dee couldn’t find much fault with the deal and ultimately said that he approved of it.

That’s how Virgil found himself preparing to agree to the final deal, watching Dee read over it one last time to ensure that the fairies hadn’t altered it before letting the deal proceed while Emile, Remy and Remus goofed off playing _Dumb Ways to Die_. Virgil watched, feeling extremely nervous. _It’s not like we’re getting married, dumbass._ He had to remind himself that the deal specifically gave him the freedom to break the deal at any moment or whatever. It was not attached to their relationship status. It just made it easier for them to properly date and that was essentially it. _So, stop freaking like it’s a marriage!_

Dee finally announced that it was the same deal and so the process proceeded. Logan took lead on preforming this deal for the three fairies, meaning they had to formally allow him to speak for Roman and Patton before diving into several formalities involving Virgil’s vocal agreement to each clause and whatnot to the deal.

“Alright, here where we discuss the nature of the magic you already have, you’ll need to sign it, or mark it, with a touch of your magic. This will allow any judge presiding over issues involving your magic and this deal to sample the strength of your magic.”

“What do you mean sign it with my magic? What does that even mean!” Virgil asked, standing at the table with the final deal sitting, waiting for his signature.

Remy sighed. “Do the Italian speaking hand meme thing.”

Virgil pinched his fingers together. “OK, now what.”

“Remus set your greenhouse on fire.”

“HE WHAT!”

Dee slammed Virgil’s hand down on the paper. “There you go. It’s now marked with your magic, showing that you bring your own powers into this deal. Also, Remus did not set your greenhouse on fire. That was just the easiest way to spark your magic.”

Virgil muttered some choice words, which his friends decided to ignore as Dee continued. “Alright, now the pests sign, then you. And that should be it.”

“Along with holding the paper and saying our names. First names suffice as Virgil is in agreeance with the arrangement.”

“Can I sign first!” Patton asked excitedly.

Dee made a face at the fairy dressed in a light blue and purple dress. “You are too much sunshine. Go ahead.”

Virgil couldn’t help but smile seeing that Patton put a smiley face in the ‘o’ in his name. Logan went next. His signature was simple but efficient like the fairy himself. Roman had to go be extra by _summoning_ a calligraphy set with a huge feather from a Pegasus. His name was large and extra. Virgil rolled his eyes, knowing that the signature could not be more Roman. Virgil took a deep breath before scribbling his name on the bottom.

“Alright, and now I am gone. See you at the restaurant.” Dee sneered at the paper before he took Remus’s hand and they started down the hill.

“Give Dee a minute to get out of sight,” Emile said softly.

“Are you ready, Virgil?” Patton asked, excitedly.

“It’s just a basic deal, Pat,” Virgil answered, but couldn’t hide the huge smile from escaping onto his lips

“Alright, the snake and rat are gone,” Remy commented. “Let’s get this over with. I want dinner.”

Logan rolled up the parchment and held it out. Patton and Roman instantly grabbed the middle of it, leaving the edge for Virgil to hold. He took a deep breath before taking hold. He could feel the magic around them as Logan started saying stuff about protocol and whatnot. Dee would probably kill him if he knew Virgil stopped paying attention to what the fairy said, but his breath was stolen as the air shimmered with magic.

The sky was no longer the oranges, pinks, and purples of sunset. Now there were tendrils of every color imaginable, and even more colors Virgil would have never dreamed of existing. It was like slow-moving rivers of light. From the river, little streams broke away to fall to earth. Most fell off into the distance, locating other spots of high magic usage. A couple of streams fell onto the little hill, where they began to swirl around them. While Virgil wasn’t the best at seeing or sensing magic, despite spending hours every day over the course of a month working on his magic, it was still breath-taking seeing tendrils of colors and textures swirling around them, revealing the strength of their combined powers.

Virgil was brought back to attention as Logan stated “I, Logan, agree to the deal whereupon my name resides.”

Patton was excitedly giggling. “I, Patton, agree to the deal whereupon my name resides.”

“I, Prince Roman, agree to the deal whereupon my name resides,” Roman announced.

 _Last chance to bail, Vee._ “I… uh… I, Anx… uh, I, _Virgil_ , agree to the deal whereupon my name resides.”

The paper stretched, turning into a shimmering rope, that wrapped around the four wrists. It yanked them in tight, where Virgil could have sworn, he felt three other heartbeats rapidly beating throughout his body as their heartbeats began to synchronize. He could feel the thoughts of the other three running through his head. He _felt_ connected to the three beings that the rope tied him to; from being wrapped in a gentle hug to the exhilaration of an adventure to settling down in front of a fire with a good book. Most of all, he felt a tide of magic swirling around the four of them. The rope started to shine brighter and brighter until it was impossible to look at. The moment Virgil shut his eyes from the light, the rope seemed to let him go and he fell back onto the ground, released from the rope, but not the three hearts beating in time with his.

“Ow,” Patton commented from where he fell.

Emile carefully moved over, looking at the four beings. They looked a bit disoriented, but otherwise, they were unharmed. Logan was the first to sit up, pushing aside the minor dizziness as he looked around at his partners. Roman was laying, groaning as if he were dying, so Logan was sure he was fine, otherwise he’d be trying to hide everything. Patton was flat on his stomach, just breathing. He noticed Logan looking and gave him a thumbs-up, which was enough to ease Logan about him. Last was Virgil, who was laying on his back, staring at the sky, with a dazed expression. Remy knelt next to him, but Virgil waved them off.

“So… uh… did it work?” Emile asked Logan, who was forcing himself to his feet.

“There are two parts that we have to try to test before I will say if it worked or did not,” Logan stated, pushing his glasses back on his face. “Virgil, please step outside the circle.”

“Uh… yeah, give me a moment. My legs feel like jelly at this second.”

Taking a couple of deep breaths, Virgil forced himself to stand up. He took a couple of steps out of the circle. He looked at the advisor for the next order but was surprised to see Logan silently talking to himself, trying to mentally push himself into moving. Logan was trembling but he slowly inched towards the edge. With a deep breath, the advisor took a step past the fairy circle, muttering a silent plea to the normally indifferent universe not to kill him for this. When there wasn’t pain or something yanking him back, Logan collapsed onto the ground, with relieved laughter escaping his shaking form.

“Uh… you alright there, Lo?”

“I have never been so terrified in my life.” Logan finally managed to say. “It at least works on our end.”

“Alright and the second part?” Remy asked.

Logan stood up again, this time more certain of his legs. “Virgil’s ability to use the fairy circle.”

“OK, so what do I do?” Virgil asked.

Logan stepped back over the mushrooms, still completely shocked at the simple movement that had been denied to him until now. “Hold your arms out. It will be easier if we take you through until you get the feel for this type of travel.”

“Uh… OK.”

Logan looked at Remy and Emile. “We will travel first to the Realm of the Fae and then to the circle beneath the Dragon’s Lantern. Jumping circles is a bit too much until you have the hang of the basic to and from the realm, so this will best serve the purpose of testing Virgil’s side of the deal.”

“Plus, my dad wants to properly welcome Virgil!” Roman said, excitedly.

“Wait, you two should step out and make sure you can leave the circle as well before we do that stuff,” Virgil said, looking at Pat and Ro.

In response, Patton _ran_ and threw himself at Virgil. Patton wasn’t going to let his nerves keep him from trying, particularly since LoLo was so certain they were free from the circle with their amazing witch. Virgil managed to catch the shaking fairy who started giggling as he realized he was outside the circle as well! Roman waited until Virgil set Pat down before swooping in and collecting the man, not even considering that after his two partners stepped out that he might not be able to. Virgil screeched as he wrapped his arms around the prince, shaking more than the prince was.

“PUT. ME. DOWN!” Virgil screamed at him.

“Of course, mi amor.” Roman set him down before kneeling and kissing the other’s knuckles.

“And welcome to my world,” Logan deadpanned, giving Roman a look. “Well, do you have any questions before we do this, Virgil?”

“Uh… if it fails, should I worry about being _yeeted_ into the void?”

“I have no idea what that means, but if you cannot use the fairy circle, you’d probably just fall onto the grass. Unless it is Samhain, only fairies and their witches can use the circles.” Logan answered. “We would then examine the fairy deal and try to determine where the issue is.”

“OK, let’s just do this.”

Virgil stretched out his arms. Patton grabbed one and Logan grabbed the other. They gently pulled Virgil towards them in the circle and he suddenly was doing that underwater flip thing again. The two fairies managed to keep him from falling this time once the world stopped rotating.

“Ah! It worked!” a voice announced.

Virgil blinked and saw King Thomas standing there with a huge smile on his face. “Welcome back, Virgil!”

 _Was Roman’s dad literally just standing there waiting for the four of us to appear?_ “I…uh… thank you?”

“Dad! We can cross the fairy circle now! And it’s just like you said! I feel connected to the other three! That means it’s official! Virgil is now our partner and our witch!” Roman was nearly jumping about in his excitement.

Thomas smiled at them. “You four enjoy this, you hear? It’s a ride that you’ll regret not taking advantage of.”

Roman was suddenly less hyper. “Pa wouldn’t want you to be sad, Dad.”

Virgil glanced at Logan, but Thomas answered his unspoken question. “My husband was a witch. Unfortunately, he passed away years ago. And Roman, he wouldn’t want you worrying about your old man. Not when your three partners are standing there, clearly ready to head to dinner without you. Now, go, shoo. Have fun.”

“Fun? With my friends? They’re working me to the bone!” Virgil offered with a small grin.

“It is important to train your magic, Virgil.”

“Fun? With my friends and Lo? They’re working me to the bone!” Virgil corrected.

Patton giggled, tightening his hold on Virgil’s arm. “Oh, we are all going to make sure you get a hang on your magic, VeeVee! You still don’t even know the awesome plant spells yet!”

Virgil glanced at Roman. “Ro, I’m counting on you to save me.”

“Uh…” Roman could already feel Logan’s eyes daring him. “I can steal you away for weapons training? I don’t particularly feel like dying at the hands of Logan, Dee, and Remy.”

“Alright, we’re off, Thomas! We’ll have RoRo back later tonight!” Patton giggled before gently tugging Virgil’s arm.

Without warning this time, Virgil was thrown. He landed face-first into the sidewalk. He muttered that a warning would have been nice but got up and watched Roman and Logan appear next to him and Patton. They were smiling brightly as the four of them walked into the restaurant. Virgil’s friends had already gotten them a table.

“Well, congrats to the new relationship!” Becca laughed as she noticed the new additions.

Virgil felt his face go red, but he answered. “Thanks, Becca.”


	33. A Mountain of (Platonic) Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emile has an off day, but his friends cheer him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: implied homophobic comments made by unaccepting parents

“Come on, VeeVee! I know you can do it!” Patton cheered.

Gritting his teeth, Virgil concentrated on the plant. “ _Surgere!”_

“No, it’s the imperative form, Virgil. It’s _surge,_ not the infinitive _surgere_.” Logan stated, from where he was looking over Virgil’s plant notes.

Roman splayed out on the empty worktable. “Ugh, I thought when teaching someone the basics of magic, it would be _easy_. This is boring.”

Logan looked up from the notes. “What, did you expect the deal would just _give_ Virgil all the knowledge required to use magic? No training whatsoever?”

“Uh…”

“No, do not continue that, your highness.”

“Oooooh, ouch. You got ‘your highness’ed. Logan is done with your shit.” Virgil grinned as he flopped into a chair, exhausted.

“What, and not yours?”

“If he were done with me, he’s be screeching ‘damn it, Virgil’ like everyone else.”

Logan rubbed his eyes, tiredly. “Plus, Virgil is actually doing extremely well. From what Joan told me, you should be glad we’re still not trying to light a match. He’s already attempting some of the more complex stuff.”

“I think RoRo just wants to do more traveling!” Patton giggled.

“ _Puh-lease_!”

“Roman, we literally spent the entire afternoon in Paris. We have plenty of time to travel. Virgil getting control over his powers is quite a bit more important than planning another adventure.”

_“Mrrph.”_

“Thank you, Gala!”

Logan groaned but moved the notes he was looking over to the worktable. “Looking over these, I do question why you took so long to learn about magic, Virgil. These are extremely detailed in properties, uses, and side-effects of many plants. My understanding was that a botanist looked into the best care for different plants.”

“Believe it or not, those notes are only basic uses for different plants. Even those of us extremely dumb humans will use aloe vera for a burn.”

“But you have several directions on preparing a combination of herbs to treat more severe issues such as anxiety,” Logan answered, waving at a page with Virgil’s chicken scratch.

“Yeah, but those never worked.”

“Because you didn’t factor in the need for magic to complete these. Let’s move from making a flower grow to try this.”

Virgil winced away a little. “I…uh… I’m currently not allowed to try any more potions.”

“Who told you no?”

“Dee. Basically, one thing led to another and Remus and I may have set Dee’s study on fire.”

 _“Damn it, Virgil, not again._ ” Remy’s voice said from the greenhouse door.

“Really, if you think about it, it’s actually your fault for handing my spellbook to Remus and telling him to test me, Ocean Dirt.”

Remy peeked over the top of their sunglasses at him. “Gurl, you’re walking on thin ice.”

“Aren’t I always? Anyways, what’s up, Remy?”

“Emile is having an _off_ day, so we’re having a movie marathon. Dee and Remy are already on their way. You weren’t picking up your phone, which I can understand why seeing you’ve got a couple of cuties with you.”

Patton gave them an apologetic grin. “Sorry! We kidnapped VeeVee from Dee to go on a trip to Paris for the afternoon and his phone ended up dying.”

“Which how dare it! We had more pics to take!” Roman announced.

Remy slowly blinked at this information _Virgil willingly went into a major city? Wait, Virgil went to PARIS!!_ They may have been chill with his magic, but they were going to need some time to adjust to the idea of Virgil, their anxiety-ridden best friend, going off and spending an afternoon in some random place with his partners.

“Paris? Paris, France?” they asked.

Roman sat up excitedly. “Of course! It’s the world capital of romance! We’ll eventually go back as a single afternoon was not enough time.”

“Forget that, Rem. What kind of _off_ day is Emile having?” Virgil asked.

“Parents called.”

Virgil was immediately on his feet. “OK, yikes. Give me a minute to get my phone and charger.”

He quickly went inside, leaving the fairies and sand being alone. “You three are welcome to come as well. Regardless of whatever Dee tries to convince himself of, you three are officially a part of our little family and that means you are welcome to join us in stuff. I’m not sure that was made clear between Dee’s insistent hissing and our talks about the fae deal.”

“If Emile is having an _off_ day as you say, would it be more prudent for us not to come?” Logan asked, uncertainly.

“Like I said, you three are now a part of our little dysfunctional family,” Remy answered. “Best way to help him of these kinds of days is hanging out and reminding him that there are people who love him without denying any part of his identity. So, lots of food, games, and entertainment surrounded by his friends. If you three feel uncomfortable coming, it’s alright.”

“If it’ll help Emile, then we’ll come,” Patton answered, though he was still uncertain.

“Alright, got my phone,” Virgil said, moving to his worktable. “Hop on up, Gala.”

“Anything we should avoid discussing?” Logan asked as the group left the greenhouse.

“Emile has asked that we don’t discuss that for him. Even if it hurts him, he’d rather address those issues himself, on his own terms.” Virgil answered. “That said, you three just be yourselves and you won’t even touch any of those topics. Just respect Emile in who he is and what he does in his life and you will not even enter that ballpark.”

“Alright,” Logan looked around the small town. “So, are there plans for tonight then?”

“Lots of Disney/Pixar movies, fun, and love,” Remy answered. “Oh, Vee. Emmy will still be at his office for a little, so maybe you could…”

“Of course, what theme this time?”

“Disney animal sidekicks?”

Virgil nodded, thinking. “No problem. Hey, you guys want to help me make cookies? I usually just make a bunch of sugar cookies, but I have a feeling that it’s some kind of crime not to ask Pat for baking help.”

“Of course I’d love to help! Is anyone allergic to anything?” Patton asked, smiling brightly at the idea of baking with Virgil.

_Ding!_

Remy glanced at their phone. “Nothing for us, are you three allergic to any kind of Chinese? Dee and Remus are stopping to pick up dinner.”

“No.”

They sent the message off, listening to Patton discussing the various cookie recipes he had, all of which made Remy’s mouth water hearing about. Virgil grinned as he offered to let Pat take over the actual baking while he and Roman started discussing the animals to design on the cookies.

Remy caught Logan watching his three partners chatter with an amused look. “Hey, nerdy boi, you ever build a blanket fort before?”

“How is it that even with beings who do not fully know me know to put me on fort duty?” Logan commented to Patton.

“Because it’s a complex engineering problem. You have to understand what can go where for its maximum potential. I was asking as these three seem set to go on making a bunch of cookies and I need help turning my living room into a soft cozy fort.” Remy answered.

Roman snorted. “You just managed to make throwing blankets around a room sound nerdy.”

“At least they seem to understand that there is some kind of planning in making a fort,” Logan stated, giving the red fairy a look.

“And there’s the added issue of making sure our beloved cold-blooded shifter doesn’t steal all the blankets the first chance he gets.”

Virgil laughed. “The literal downfall of so many forts. And then the eventual kidnappings by the blanket monster.”

An intrigued look entered Logan’s eyes. “I’ll help you, Remy.”

They got to the house and all went to work. Virgil, Patton, and Roman went into the kitchen to start on the mountain of cookies they were planning and Logan followed Remy to collect every sheet and blanket they owned. Remy discovered quite quickly that they had picked the right fairy for this. Logan quickly took over on designing it. Remy just grinned and followed the fairy’s directions.

“Hey, Queen Bitch, you gotta try this!” Remy rolled their eyes but let the anxious man force some cookie dough into their mouth.

Remy’s taste buds were right to mouth-water listening to the discussion earlier as the cookie dough was already amazing and they just wanted to curl up in bed with a tub of it. They nodded which was enough to make Virgil laugh and head back into the kitchen, where they could hear the two fairies and Virgil arguing about the best animal in Disney. Remy caught a glance of Logan’s face, before smiling softly.

“You three are incredibly special to Anx.” Remy found themselves saying softly to Logan as they continued. “Only other being he’s warmed up to that fast is me.”

Logan glanced into the kitchen, smiling at the sight of his partners. “And I can promise you that he is incredibly special to us as well, Remy.”

Remy wasn’t sure what else they wanted to say, but they didn’t have to think of anything as the front door was thrown open to reveal Dee and Remus, both laden down with food. Logan and Remy immediately went over to take some of the bags and help carry them into the kitchen. It took a moment to find some free space, but Virgil was already condensing the cookie factory for the food.

“Great, the pests are here too,” Dee commented, off-handedly.

“Great, the snake is here,” Roman answered, not even glancing up from the cookie he was designing with Pua.

Virgil raised an eyebrow at Dee. “I thought you finally agreed to an ‘I will tolerate them’ truce?”

“Doesn’t mean I’m excited to see them.”

Dee and Remus started to properly set up the food and then the plates and utensils. Logan and Remy got the blanket fort finished, listening to Dee and Remus jump into the argument. Soon, all was finished and they started discussing what movies they should watch tonight, waiting for the final being.

**

Emile sighed as he climbed out of his car. It had been a long day and he was just glad to finally be home where he could cuddle his partner for the rest of the night. He could hear Remy moving about inside, with the clang of pans. He quietly entered the house and shut the door. He leaned his head against the frame, sighing. Emile took a deep breath, relaxing before he realized there were lots of different smells.

He turned around and found the living room converted into a giant plush room of blankets and pillows. Standing in the middle of the room was Remy, who was smiling at him. He glanced into the kitchen and saw six additional faces, peeking over at him, waiting with smiles. Remy moved forward and gently took his bag and set it aside. With that out of the way, they pulled the surprised man into a tight hug.

“Surprise,” they whispered to him.

After having to deal with his pretty much everything-phobic parents and just a whole mess of things, it didn’t really surprise him when his eyes started to tear up. “W-hat?”

“Come in here and get yourself a plate so the rest of us don’t feel bad about eating without you!” Dee called.

Remy laughed as they laced their fingers between Emile’s. “Well?”

“What is all of this?” he finally managed to ask as Remy gently dragged him into the kitchen where he saw a Chinese buffet and a mountain of cookies.

“Lots of love piled up for your pleasure!” Remus announced, smiling brightly and excitedly bouncing as he waited for Emile’s reaction.

Dee offered him a plate. “We heard about the call. We’re here to remind you that your parents may be biologically your family, we are just as much your family, who care and love you, Em.”

Emile gave Remy a look. “Rem, you didn’t need to…”

“Oh, hush. It’s not a matter of needing to do anything.” Remy answered. “We all love you and we want to spoil you.”

“And be here, however you need us, Emile,” Virgil added.

He smiled. “Thank you.”

“Now, let’s get this party started!”

The group got their food before moving into the living room. Logan started dictating where everyone should sit. Emile couldn’t help the grin as Dee got into an argument with him, knowing that by now it was just for the sake of arguing over real hatred. Everyone else had taken the spot Logan referred them to before Dee finally giving in and plopping down where the fairy told him.

Once he had done so, though, Dee froze, shocked. “What?”

Everyone but Remy and Logan watched on in confusion as Logan started rambling about thermodynamics and airflow. Roman called out that he needed to explain in English rather than in Nerd. Logan made a face but explained that where Dee was sitting was the warmest spot in the entire fort.

“MOVIE!” Remus screeched before Logan could start rambling again.

They managed to get through three movies before Remy and Roman got into a discussion of Disney’s weak LGBT representation. “Like come on! They could do more than have some character _glance_ at a boy at the end of a movie for representation!”

“Exactly! They need to deck out a bunch of characters and send them to Pride or something.” Remy agreed.

Roman waved a cookie at them. “If they want a real prince version, they can steal mine! A young prince goes with his dads, completely decked out, to an anti-LGBT aunt who was talking bad to the family about her daughter being ‘badly influenced’. The evil aunt tells the young prince he will never find love and the prince ends his story with not only finding one love but _three_ amazing princes of his own!”

“Huh, that sounds like something my uncle and his family did for me,” Emile commented softly, startling the prince. “My parents weren’t able to see more than two colors together for a month afterward because they had rainbow _everything_. All because I was questioning whether I was straight or not. They still blame my uncles for how far I fell from their idea of a ‘perfect’ child.”

“Oh,” Roman answered, shocked. “I’m sorry that your parents aren’t so accepting. If you would like, we can storm their house in rainbow everything!”

Emile laughed. “No, it’s alright. While they aren’t exactly as accepting as I might like, they’ve started to relax about it all, though slip up and make some not nice comments. Still, thank you for reminding me of that memory though. I should try and contact that uncle again. I haven’t heard from him since my mother banished him from ever visiting again.”

“So…” Remy commented uncertain of whether Emile was done or not. “Can we at least agree that in Mulan, Shang is absolutely bisexual?”

“No! He’s demisexual! Did you not see how disappointed he was when he learned that Mulan wasn’t Ping?” Remus screamed.

“Bitch, he’s bi!”

Roman joined in the argument, siding with Remy but also claiming Mulan was demisexual. Emile smiled as he snuggled in closer to Remy, with a blanket he somehow has managed to keep longer than a movie. He was lucky to have his friends and partner. The most recent joining fairies had already found their place in the group and he loved all of them.


	34. Calm Before a Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil gets ready for some party. ( _Kiss?_ )

_[FairySweetCookies]: Don’t forget about Roman’s dinner tonight. [sent at 0948]_

Virgil groaned. “Like I want to go to some fancy state dinner.”

Gala started purring in his ear. The sound put a smile on his face. Still, it was morning and he had the day free of friends and partners (at least until around four, but that was later). He pulled over the spellbook and flipped through, before stopping on the page for a potion he wanted to try.

Gala excitedly followed her human around his kitchen as he started brewing some plant thing. She would easily fetch different herbs he needed before he asked too! She was proud of how much her human has accomplished, and she _knew_ that she played some important part, so she was also proud of herself. Her human was going to be a great witch and she would be a great familiar for her human, just like her mama had been! She will… _LEAF! THERE IS A LEAF AND SHE MUST ATTACK IT!_

“Alright, while that’s going, how about a homemade breakfast?” Virgil asked the playful kitten. “Would you like to try some bacon? Or are you happy with your single leaf breakfast?”

She stared at the voice that interrupted her attack on the leaf, before going back to the attack. Virgil laughed as he pulled out some bacon and eggs. He got started on cooking, occasionally glancing over to see how Galaxy was doing. She eventually defeated the leaf but found a flower. She brought it over to her human, expecting him to put it on the top of her head.

“Huh, how did an Ixia get in here?” he muttered, looking over the flower.

_“Meow?”_

Virgil smiled at the kitten. “Hey, Gala, think you can keep a secret?”

She tilted her head. _“Mrrrrph?”_

“I’ve collected the seeds from the Ixia already and have sorted out the ones that should survive and less likely,” Virgil said softly, looking over the little flower. “Those that I’m not going to use in preserving the Ixia, I’ve been playing around with. I think when the couple I tried planting bloom, they might be different colors than the current purple they are. I’m hoping that when they bloom, they’ll be a dark blue, light blue, and a red for my fairies. Do you think they would like that surprise?”

Gala started purring as her tail swished back and forth. Virgil scratched her head before plating his breakfast and filling her bowl with wet food and a piece of bacon on top. He set a hand down and Gala scampered up to his shoulder while he carried the food to the table. Gala wasn’t sure about the weird thing in her yummy food, but her human had some as well so she was willing to try it.

Virgil laughed as the kitten tried bacon for the first time and froze as if she had just found the meaning to life. “Same, girl, same.”

While they ate, Virgil flipped through his grimoire. There were so many different kinds of magic shown in it. He’d even found the spell that essentially explained how the book would only show its contents to magic-practitioners within his family. The part that truly interested in were the multi-step, a touch of the various kinds of magic spells.

_“Mrrrrph?”_

“I know, I know.” He sighed. “It’s still at least another month before I move onto a two-part spell, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look ahead. The first spell I want I properly cast is this one.”

Gala glanced at the page, but she was only three months old; she didn’t know how to read yet. _“Mreow.”_

“A powerful protection spell.” He flipped the page, still looking over the complex spell. “Cast this, and I ensure that all of my friends are safe. They’ve left out the fact that there are hunters who try and kill any source of magic while teaching me. But, I spent the first ten years of my life under one of them. Probably the very reason Remy hasn’t bothered to mention that issue, though I really wish they would stop treating me like some helpless kid. Dee isn’t that concerned about hunters, not as much as he’s concerned over fairies, so I can’t really fault him on that. He’s been open about that danger, though I wish he’d actually worry about someone who wants him dead over something so simple as magic rather than three fairies who are at worst indifferent about him. Yet, if I can cast this around the town, they wouldn’t have to worry.”

Gala listened to her human talk. She could feel that he was conflicted about what he was talking about. A noise came from the phone, causing her to jump. Virgil just sighed as he turned off the alarm. He stood up and let Gala scramble up his arm. They went and pulled the cauldron off the stove. Virgil carefully poured some of the potion into a squirt bottle, before adding two parts water and shaking it.

“Alright house plant. Let’s hope this works.” He said to the succulent that Roman had gotten him months ago.

He sprayed the plant with the diluted potion and waited. Slowly, but surely, the little withered parts of the plant regained their color and the plant stood tall once again. Virgil smiled at it, excited that he had managed to successfully brew the potion. He waited a couple more minutes before he went into the greenhouse to give his plants a health boost.

He spent the entire day working in his greenhouse. Gala hadn’t seen her human so open and happy. She enjoyed listening to his voice singing and watching him do a little dance move while he worked. She found herself also having so much fun as she was allowed further from her human’s worktable! Virgil laughed at her antics as she tried challenging everything from pots to the mister valves to a basil plant. Gala did not like her human laughing as the icky plant won their battle by being super gross, but she did like hearing him laugh, so she decided that she would focus on his laugh over _why_ he was laughing.

Ding!

_[FairySweetCookies]: Palace is super busy, so let me know when you are on your way. I’ll come to get you so that you don’t have to endure the hour-long wait. [sent at 3:35]_

_[FairySweetCookies]: Also, your suit arrived and Roman has already accidentally daydreamed aloud about how you’ll look to his father and council. [sent at 3:36]_

Virgil laughed as he sent off an OK. “Guess we should get ready to leave, Gala. We’ve got some terrible party to attend… Where Roman plans to show off his new partner and witch… ugh, I’m going to have to interact with a bunch of noble beings. What am I even doing? All I’m going to do is mess this all up! I’ll mess this all up and Roman will be embarrassed and he’ll resent me and Logan will give me that disappointed look before saying that they can’t have a boyfriend who can’t attend fancy royalty parties and Patton will give me that pouting look that will just make me want to sob and…”

 _“Mreow!”_ Gala managed to reach her human’s nose and started batting it, trying to get him to stop these mean words about himself.

 _It’s really hard to have an anxiety attack with a kitten swatting you_ , Virgil couldn’t help but think as he forced himself to start breathing. Once he was better, Gala sat back and waited for him to move her to her favorite spot. Her human rolled his eyes but helped her up. It wasn’t her fault that sitting on him was the best viewpoint while still being close enough to cuddle her anxious human!

They left the house with an overnight bag. Virgil was nervous, but Gala kept him from panicking, particularly by screaming in his ear. It didn’t take long before they arrived at the fairy circle just outside of town. Logan took a couple of minutes to show up, but he appeared with a smile. Virgil returned it and accepted his hand as they returned to the Realm of the Fae.

The first thing Virgil noticed upon arrival was the chatter. There were people everywhere. Even if he hadn’t known about the upcoming dinner, which Logan had told him basically translated to party, he would have still known something was happening. Galaxy cuddled her human closer, not liking the sudden amount of noise either.

“Come on, this way,” Logan said, gently tugging Virgil’s arm towards the heavily armed entry.

“Ah, Royal Advisor Logan, you weren’t gone long.” A fairy commented as the two of them approached.

“As if I have time to be gone long.” He answered, grinning. “Prince Roman would accidentally destroy the palace if I were.”

The fairy looked Virgil over. “I see you’ve brought a witch with you. Sorry to say, but I do have to search you, laddie. Standard procedure.”

Virgil meekly nodded and let the fairy do his search. A couple of fairies were angrily muttering about special treatment for skipping the line or whatever and that made Virgil feel even more insecure about this entire thing. The search didn’t take long though and they were allowed to enter the palace. Logan led him towards their apartment, silently.

“VIRGIL!”

The anxious man found himself holding Patton, whose wings were fluttering excitedly. Virgil laughed and set the fairy down, getting a good look at him. He was dressed in a soft blue ball gown with a dark tulle over it. There was a black beaded sequence along the bodice with off-shoulder sleeves.

“Wow,” _Hot. Hot. Hot. Gay-Dumbass Activated._ “You…uh… The dress… You look... wow.”

Patton giggled as he swished the dress around. “Thank you, Vee! It’s super soft and it moves so well! Wait until you see Lo’s dress!”

“It is merely a formal dinner gown, Pat.” Logan had a bright red blush though. “Still, here is your suit, Virgil. I need to go save Thomas from Roman’s boredom, so I’ll be back shortly to prepare myself.”

“Have fun, Lo!” Patton called after the fairy, smiling.

Patton grabbed Virgil’s bag and set it aside. “Come here, Galaxy! We need to get you ready as well!”

“You guys had that poor overworked designer make Gala a dress as well?” Virgil asked, shocked.

“She actually didn’t really ask. She just delivered the kitten sized dress with your suit.” Patton answered, shrugging. “Knowing that woman, she saw the kitten with her little bow while she was working on your fitting and threw together a dress with leftover material.”

Virgil grabbed the suit bag. “You guys didn’t have to get me a suit, either, you know. I do have one.”

“Vee, I know how awkward all of this stuff is, coming from a more normal life into Roman and Logan’s world of posh.” Patton made sure he kept his eyes and attention on Gala so he didn’t make the poor anxious man more awkward. “Especially this early on in our relationship, it’s going to seem like a lot. I promise that it will ease up. The way the royal court sees it, being some of the posh ‘we’re better than…’, is that the new royal witch only has drab human-made stuff. Roman and Logan have already argued with them about leaving you alone…”

“Uh… yeah, thanks, Pat, but that isn’t really much help.” Virgil commented.

Patton offered him a weak grin. “Sorry, VeeVee. Point is if nothing else, I’m here and I understand the strangeness of all of this. Now, go get dressed.”

“Thanks, Pat.” He answered, grabbing his make-up bag from his overnight duffle.

He slipped into the bathroom to change. The suit and vest were a steel gray with black lining. The undershirt and tie were a dull violet with matching handkerchief, Virgil discovered was carefully sewn in to keep its shape. The fabric felt smooth and silky. Once the multiple pieces were on, Virgil carefully styled his hair as Remy’s hairstyle lessons invaded his mind: _Bitch it’s a tousled quiff style, don’t ever call it a ‘steal your imaginary girl’ hairstyle ever again!_ With that, he did a natural look for his make-up and nodded at his reflection.

“So, where is our beloved Knight… Great fluttering wings.”

Virgil looked down at himself. “I don’t look that bad, do I?”

Roman was already sweeping the man off the ground. Without a thought, he planted a kiss on the other’s lips, smiling brightly. He immediately started complimenting the bright red witch. Roman didn’t realize what he’d done until he noticed his partners all staring at him in shock. The prince’s mind finally reminded him that _he just kissed Virgil!_

Quickly, the witch found himself back on his own feet with the Prince of the Fae, quickly apologizing. “I am so sorry, mi amor! I should have asked before… I…”

“Hey, Princey. Shut up and try again.”

Roman froze before smiling brightly at him. “If you are so willing, might I kiss you again, this time with your permission?”

Virgil’s eyes were memorizing to the prince as he gave a soft yes. Roman found that not shocking your partner with a kiss led to a better kiss. As the kiss ended, Roman’s forehead touched his partner’s as he stared into those beautiful eyes, noticing light freckles on his nose. Virgil’s eyes flicked towards their other partners, so Roman stepped back and offered Virgil’s hand to the other two.

Patton was smiling brightly as he gently took Virgil’s hand. “Can I kiss you too, VeeVee?”

The man gave a small nod. Whereas Roman’s kiss was hot and full of passion, Patton’s kiss was soft and filled with giggles, placing a smile on Virgil’s face. They broke apart long enough to give each other a smile before kissing again, now with both barely keeping themselves from giggling.

 _I should have gotten the first kiss_ Logan’s mind couldn’t but whine as he watched his partners. He knew that thought was illogical as he was not entitled to receiving any form of romantic affection from anyone, but dang it, he met the cute boy first! No, Logan was not pouting about watching his partners kiss. He was… OK, he was pouting.

Virgil was smiling as he came over and took the advisor's hand. “I wouldn’t have taken you for the jealous type, Lo.”

 _Those damn, beautiful eyes and that horrible, sexy smirk._ “I am not jealous.”

 _That insufferable smirk!_ “Alright, I guess we can wait for a more personable moment to share a…”

He was moving away as Logan grabbed his wrist. “No! Get back here and kiss me for the love of…”

Logan’s voice cut off as he found the other’s lips on his. For once, he did not mind being cut off as he melted in the other’s arms. _Great wings, I’ve wanted to kiss him for months._ In the back of his mind, he could hear Roman and Patton snickering, but he could worry about that later. What mattered at the moment was this amazing being kissing him.

They separated and Logan couldn’t help but stare into those mismatched eyes. He couldn't pick which eye was more fascinating: the green that matched a full, plush meadow or the purple that spoke of mysteries and curiosity. _OK, I need to stop spending so much time listening to Roman’s romantic fantasies_.

“Alright, off to get ready with you,” Virgil whispered in the advisor’s ear.

Virgil turned from the dazed advisor to see Gala in a cute little dress in the same shade of violet as his undershirt and a little steel gray bow in the back. “You really enjoy being dressed up, don’t you, Gala?”

_“Meow!”_

“She matches her adorable human even more now! Now, not only does her eyes match you, but her outfit!” Patton giggled.

Virgil blinked before realizing he was right. “Wait, when did your eyes change color! Last I remember they were the kitten blue!”

Gala stared at her silly human. _“Mreow.”_

Roman laughed. “I would ask if you were really that oblivious, but then again, you nearly killed Logan with your obliviousness, so I know it is possible.”

Virgil scratched the kitten’s ears as he looked at her eyes. Sure enough, one was bright green and the other was purple. Gala started to purr as she stretched her head, trying to get him to scratch under her chin. Patton appeared at his shoulder and offered a little purple bow for the top of the kitten’s head.

Not too long after, Logan reappeared wearing a navy ball gown. It was a lot simpler and less fluffed out than Patton’s, but it was still amazing on him. There was a simple silver decoration along the top of the skirt and the top was sleeveless. Virgil’s poor gay brain really wasn’t going to be able to work much longer if his partners got anymore… and he’s done for.

Roman appeared next to Logan, smiling at the stoic man. Ro was in a wine-red suit with black lining and a white undershirt. He had more decorative pieces that signified his position in the government, but they were less important to the dramatic man than the three men dressed up around him. Logan rolled his eyes before fixing Roman’s black tie, causing the prince to blush.

“Well, are you ready to be officially introduced to the Realm of the Fae, Vee?” Roman asked, trying not to look any more of a gay mess than he was.

“Nope,” Virgil even popped the ‘p’. “So, let’s do this before my nerves get the better of me.”


	35. To Dance with a Rumor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil attends a royal party and meets someone who tells him a rumor.

“Alright, you will arrive with Roman, Virgil. Patton and I will be announced first, then Joan and Talyn over there. Next will be you and Roman and finally Thomas.” Logan stated, unconsciously fixing the witch’s suit as he spoke. “Before you ask, it is all based on rank and whatnot. Being the Prince’s Witch, you hold a higher rank than Pat and me within our government. This will introduce you to the people, with minimal effort or interaction on your part. We will be sat together at the head of the table, where you can sit between Roman and me, ensuring less access from other people, trying to speak with you on matters that they really shouldn’t even be asking about in the first place. Following dinner, you will escort Patton to the ballroom. I’ll come to save you once both of us have been spun around enough times to acceptable escape the dance floor.”

“Hey, LoLo? Take a deep breath. You and Virgil have discussed this several times already.” Patton said. “It’ll be fine.”

“Plus, you’re kind of out of time, Lo. You and Pat are about to be announced.” Thomas said, gently.

With a small burst of courage, Logan pecked Virgil’s cheek before taking Patton’s arm in his. “I’m sure you all are right.”

“If nothing else, I can trip Princey and make a break for it. It’ll be fine, Logan.” Virgil agreed.

Roman pretended to be hurt. “How dare you!”

_“Royal Advisor Logan and Sir Patton!”_

“Off you two go,” Talyn said, shooing them through the door. “Honestly, that boy worries more than he needs to sometimes.”

Thomas gave Roman and Virgil an amused eye roll. “Says a perfectionist who taught a perfectionist.”

_“The Royal Advisors Joan and Talyn.”_

“Don’t think I won’t get you for that after this.” Talyn hissed as they started for the door with Joan.

Roman looked at his partner. “Hey, take a deep breath, Vee. It will all be fine, I promise. I will be right here next to you the entire time. Gala will be on your shoulder like normal. It will be fine.”

_“Now, introducing Prince Roman and, making his first court appearance, the Prince’s Witch, Sir Virgil.”_

Virgil took a deep breath before Roman gently took his arm and gently led him through the doors. There were more people than Virgil had expected. Fairies and a handful of witches were scattered throughout the room. Virgil’s heart was racing, but Roman gently squeezed his hand as Gala started purring loudly in his ear. Virgil managed to find Patton who gave him a huge smile, and he found himself relaxing with Roman and Gala protecting him from both sides and Patton and Logan ahead of him.

They arrived at their seats and listened as Thomas was announced to the court. The king made his way through the hall at a brisk pace, not worried about the crowd getting a good look at him. _They’ve probably seen enough of him anyways. Tonight was to introduce Virgil to the court, not let the tabloids trash the suit Joan and Talyn forced him into._

“Welcome all to the opening festivities for the Winter Equinox! Now, as we are all probably eager to dig into dinner, I will keep this short. I would like to thank Middle Grades Public School for determining this night’s theme and their incredible work decorating the ballroom! May the Middle Grades Public School students stand and be recognized for their work?”

Virgil watched a bunch of preteens stand up from where they were seated with their families in the middle of the table. He joined in the applause, smiling as they waved, excitedly. Thomas waited for the applause to die down and the children to sit back down before continuing.

“While they were formally announced, I would like to ask the Teachers of the Year to rise and be once again recognized for teaching is not an easy task and yet, they face that task with joy and perseverance.”

Thomas repeated this process with a group of palace workers and a group of charity workers before he arrived at his final recognition. “And finally, I would like to properly introduce one final person. My son has been fortunate enough to enter a deal with his partners and a witch. I would like to introduce him to the court and the people of our realm and wish him luck in having to deal with my son’s _free spirit_. May the witch, Virgil, and his familiar, Galaxy, please rise.”

There were chuckles running through the crowd as Thomas waved at the man next to his son. Virgil did not want to stand up, but he also knew that it was probably extremely rude not to accept a king’s introduction, so he did. His legs felt like jelly as fairies and witches alike clapped, excitedly. He could hear Gala purring in his ear and her tail flicking across his back at the attention. _How did he, an anxious mess, get an extroverted, happy being the center of attention, kitten as his familiar?_ He glanced at Thomas and was relieved when he nodded and he was able to collapse back into his seat. Gala jumped onto the table and sought out Patton, looking for scratches.

“Now, while I could go on forever, I think we would all like me to go quiet and have dinner! Please enjoy Master Chef Frello’s magnificent feast!” Thomas announced, before taking his seat.

In a flurry of movement, food was set along the tables. Virgil’s mouth started to water at all the smells. Someone set up a small cat dinner placement next to him and Gala attacked the food eagerly while her human started to set up his own plate.

“ _Free spirit!_ ” Roman screeched at his father. “Really, Dad!”

“I thought it was a better phrase than eccentricities, inability to sit still, and many other descriptions,” Thomas answered, eagerly grabbing the bowl of mash potatoes. “If nothing else, it should put Virgil in a better light as people know how hard it can be to deal with you.”

“DAD!”

Logan rolled his eyes at the king and prince’s playful taunts. “You alright, Virgil?”

“This all appears to be more than just a simple dinner as you had originally put it to me. But, uh, yeah. I’ll be fine.” He answered, awkwardly. “Just a lot more exposure therapy for poor Virgil. He’ll get used to it, eventually.”

“Oh, yikes, referring to yourself in the third person?” Joan commented. “Not a good sign. Makes you sound possessed.”

Joan watched as Roman leaned over and whispered something to Virgil. Both Virgil and Logan went red at whatever the prince had said. They glanced to their side where Patton was trying to tempt Gala with some chicken, oblivious to his partners blushing across from him. Joan quickly turned the conversation away to a more comfortable topic.

An hour later, Virgil found himself linked arms with Patton, moving into a ballroom. The giant room was decorated as a snow-covered forest. Virgil was surprised to see how well-done everything looked. There were even snowflakes falling, that vanished before coming close to touching his head. The trees along the walls looked to be real, though Virgil could tell they were fake once he ran some of the pine needles between his fingers. The forest seemed to go on forever. Off in the distance, Virgil saw an ice rink with some fairies already ice skating.

“A bunch of preteens did all of this?” he asked Pat as they made their way through the room.

“Yup! It’s a tradition that the Middle Grades decorate the Winter Solstice ball. Thomas gives the school access to professional help, of course, but it’s the kids who design everything.” Patton giggled. “He loves having the community involved in these sorts of things. Come on! Let’s go dance!”

Virgil smiled at Patton dragged him off. They danced and laughed and Virgil was having a lot of fun. Eventually, they bumped into Roman and Logan. As if completely natural, Roman twirled Logan and somehow ended up with Patton’s hand while Logan spun into Virgil’s arms. They laughed and danced at little together, but eventually, it became a bit too much for the two introverts of the group. They wandered away from the dance floor to go get a drink.

 _“It’s the Prince’s Witch and Advisor!”_ Virgil heard someone say before Logan and he were swarmed by fairies he could only assume were actual nobles and whatnots.

They crowded the fairy and witch. While trying not to be obvious about it, they were obviously trying to get themselves on the witch’s good side. Virgil was grateful that he had Logan with him as the advisor easily shut down any bribery, favors, and whatever else Virgil couldn’t keep track of. Still, it was too many people and too many people trying to keep his attention. _He really needs to leave soon or he was going to end up in an anxiety attack._

_“MREOW!”_

Virgil winced at Gala’s scream, right in his ear. “Really? You don’t need to scream, Gal. My ear is literally right there.”

“I think we should be heading off, great noble beings,” Logan said, jumping on the kitten’s interruption. “The Royal Familiar appears to require some water. It’s been a pleasure.”

Without another word, Logan grabbed Virgil’s arm and dragged him towards the drink table. “Gala, I owe you one later.”

The kitten was once again purring as she was set on the table and given a small bowl of water. Virgil smiled as he accepted a drink. Logan smiled at his partner before telling him that he’d arranged a small surprise for the anxious man.

“Lo, you didn’t need to,” Virgil answered, letting the kitten climb back onto her perch.

“If I recall correctly, technically yes, I did. Come on,”

Logan led Virgil through the ballroom forest until they arrived in a little clearing. There were a few beings loitering around, finding a quiet spot away from the noise. Logan led Virgil over to a single man with brown wings. Virgil’s breath caught as they moved closer to him and Vee saw bright red-eyes.

“Mothman.” He breathed, excitedly.

“I didn’t understand why witches kept calling me that until Sir Logan explained it to me.” The fairy commented, not even turning to look at the approaching fairy and witch. “I take it that you are Virgil, the new witch for the prince and his partners. I’m Robert, though most call me Red-Eyed Bob.”

“I asked Robert if he would be willing to meet you once we discovered that he was the source of the Mothman myth you were so interested in,” Logan said, smiling at his excited partner.

Robert finally turned from the puzzle he’d been working on and froze as his eyes took in the witch before him. “By the great beating wings…”

The excitement vanished from the young witch, only to be replaced with uncertainty. “Is something wrong, sir?”

He opened and shut his mouth uncertainly a couple of times. “I… Your eyes…”

Virgil mentally sighed, used to people being taken aback by the purple eye. “I know it’s odd, but they are my natural eye color.”

“No, not that.” Robert looked thoroughly shaken. “Tell me, boy. What is your last name?”

“Uh…” Now Virgil was uncomfortable.

“He will not be sharing that. Security risk for the prince.” Logan cut in, easily, though he looked mildly uncomfortable as well.

Robert nodded. “Might I ask instead of your mother’s name, then?”

“I don’t know her name for certain,” Virgil answered, starting to feel really uncomfortable. “Why?”

“It’s just, you look like a woman who cursed the realm, years ago,” Robert answered, looking over the man carefully. “Did his majesty approve of your deal with the prince?”

Virgil’s mind threw the memory of King Thomas screaming into his arm the first time they met. “What do you mean I look like a woman who cursed the realm?”

“You don’t know? Surely his majesty…”

“I have only had a few conversations with him. Please, tell me.”

Robert rubbed the back of his neck as his brown wings fluttered. “I only know rumors, you’d probably be better off asking his majesty…”

“Please.”

Robert looked at the man before him before sighing. “I can only tell you rumors, kid.”

“Tell me, please.”

The fairy paused looking over the anxious witch. “I would rather not, but I also see that you are going to be persistent and honestly, it’ll probably be better you hear the story before someone comes after you. Well, I guess to start with, it’s said to be bad luck to meet a witch with purple eyes and worse yet, a single one. Most of us believed that family died out with the woman’s death, but… Anyways, it’s said a young girl was traded to a traitorous fairy who abused her to no end. One day, she unleashed her power and went on a killing spree. She killed off the fairy who took her, many within his lands, and even the king’s parents. No one is sure how she managed to reach him, but she kidnapped King Thomas shortly after his coronation. Many believe she tortured him into agreeing to let her return to the human world. Some say, she found a way to cast a reverse fae deal, where a human tricks a fairy into agreeing to a deal that the fairy cannot break. She made a single appearance in court with his majesty and then vanished, leaving behind hundreds of dead.”

“Wait, why would King Thomas just let her go like that if she killed people? He would have had her arrested and imprisoned for her crimes.” Logan asked.

Robert shrugged. “No one knows. Some say that he was traumatized and threw the record out of her existence. Others say that it was part of the reverse deal she forced him into. Personally, I believe he decided that to best protect our people she had to be sent away. He banished her from our realm and has made it hard, if not impossible, to track her down so that any fae looking for revenge couldn’t find her.”

Virgil gulped, thinking about the king’s reaction to him. _What if it was true?_ Was all of that true? Logan could feel Virgil’s mental struggle, but he wasn’t sure what to do in order to help. Robert wasn’t looking at either of them anymore as he picked at a puzzle piece, uncomfortable with this whole interaction, and planning to cast some wards upon his home tonight, _just in case_.

“I… uh… well…” _what was there for him to say?_ “Thank you for telling me, sir. We’ll… uh… let you enjoy the rest of your night.”

With that, Virgil dragged Logan away from the uncomfortable fairy. He didn’t really pay attention to where he was going, nor responded to anyone calling towards either of them. He was only interested in getting out of this room. Once they stepped out of the ballroom, Logan took the lead and led the shaking man back to the apartment, not speaking until the door was shut behind them.

“Virgil, breathe.”

“What if that was my mother? I never knew her other than what my bastard father told me about her. What if Thomas hates me? If that’s all true… what if people connect me to that stuff and want revenge for something I didn’t do?” Virgil wasn’t breathing and Gala wasn’t able to boop his nose out of the anxiety attack this time.

Logan tried his best to help Virgil breathe, but the anxiety attack wasn’t going to go away that easily. He wasn’t sure how long it took before he managed to get Virgil to start following a breathing pattern, but relief filled the advisor while he did. Once the man was breathing, Logan sent him into the closet– which was the only room that didn’t have a mirror so he didn’t see his mismatched eyes– to change out of the suit and into a set of PJs.

“What do you want to do about this, Virgil?” Logan finally asked when both were out of their formal wear. “We can go discuss this with Thomas in the morning.”

“I doubt he’ll talk about it. He didn’t after our first meeting and he literally screamed after seeing me.” Virgil answered, miserably.

“Hey, I can tell you right now, Thomas does not hate you, Virgil.” Logan gently took the man’s hand. “He said it himself that it wasn’t your fault. He already loves you like he loves Roman, Patton, and me. He may be willing to discuss this with you now that you two know each other better.”

“No… even if I were convinced of that, he said those memories were repressed.” Virgil tried to keep tears from spilling. “Plus, I don’t know if I want to hear the real story after hearing that.”

Logan slowly nodded. “Alright, do you want to watch some movies then? We are certainly not returning after all of that and honestly, I don’t think either of us want to deal with people asking us questions while we linger about.”

“Uh, yeah…Sure.”

The two of them collected blankets and made a giant soft bed to lay on before putting in Black Cauldron. That’s how Patton and Roman found the two of them almost three hours later. They quickly changed and joined the cuddle party, oblivious to the thoughts running through their partners’ heads.


	36. Return of the Karen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While discussing what Logan found about the rumor, a Karen appears.

_[Trenta4SandBeing]: wat happened at that party of y’alls? [sent at 1403]_

_[FairySweetCookies]: A lot. Why? [sent at 1404]_

_[Trenta4SandBeing]: V has been off since coming back. Wat happened? [sent at 1404]_

_[FairySweetCookies]: Mothman told him about a rumor. I’ll see if Virgil is willing to talk with me. [sent at 1406]_

Logan pulled up Virgil’s contact and called. _“Lo? What’s up?”_

“Virgil,” Logan answered. “Roman is getting on my nerves, so I was wondering if you’d like to go get coffee with me.”

_“What has his royal dumbass done this time?”_

Logan looked around his study, thinking. “Just his normal antics. Can’t get him to work.”

_“Ah, I was a bit busy…”_

“Oh, if you would rather not…” Logan wasn’t sure what he was doing and had no game plan as he thought to himself, _Great wings help me._

 _“Actually…”_ there was a paused. _“Did you happen to look up the records?”_

“Yes, but I couldn’t find much, Virgil.”

_“Can you bring them? Please?”_

“Of course, Vee.”

_“Do you want to meet there or here?”_

“I think out there will be better for you right now, with your nerves still frayed. See you at the diner and we can decide where to go afterward in about twenty minutes?”

_“Sure. I’ll see you soon, Lo.”_

The call ended and Logan let out a breath. _Last time he does an impulsive action like that again._

_[FairySweetCookies]: I’m going to meet with him. Hopefully, I can help calm him down. [sent at 1414]_

_[Trenta4SandBeing]: Let me know how it goes [sent at 1415]_

Logan swung by Roman’s study before popping off into the human realm. “I’m going to visit Virgil. You are to finish off that report. Understood?”

“Ugggggh,” Roman moaned before noticing the file that Logan held. “Oooh, what’s that, Lo?”

“My finished work for the day,” Logan answered, attempting to sound disinterested in it.

“Why do you get the interesting stuff?” Roman whined. “What did you get that’s in a classified folder!”

“Roman, all of my folders have classified on them. Now, get to work. I want that work done by the time I get back. Understood?”

Roman pouted that his diversion didn’t work. “Understood.”

Logan nodded and left for the human realm. He had to concentrate on the small section of the fairy circle that would make it seem like he hadn’t randomly appeared, but by now, he was confident in that act. He had to wait a few minutes before Virgil appeared. He didn’t have Gala with him, which concerned the advisor, but he didn’t say anything as he stepped over the circle and followed Virgil to a little coffee shop.

Logan could see why Remy was worried; Virgil did look off. He hadn’t brushed his purple hair, so it wasn’t the nice swish. He looked like he hadn’t slept since the party. He was even more jumpy than normal, responding to almost every sound. Logan really wished that he hadn’t introduced Virgil to Robert. It was supposed to be fun, but it appeared to have the opposite effect on the man.

“You get us a table and I’ll go get the coffee? Black, two sugar, and dash of milk?” Virgil asked as they arrived at the coffee shop. “Do you want anything to munch on?”

“You have my coffee preferences memorized already? No to the pastry, thank you though.”

Virgil blushed but nodded as he headed in to get the coffee. Logan took a seat at a table, mildly pleased that his partner understood his coffee preferences, unlike Roman who always gave him some fancy complex drink or Patton who always put too much sugar and milk in on accident. He sighed as he set the file on the table, wondering what he was going to even say to the anxious man. It took a few minutes before Virgil returned with their coffees and a plate with two pieces of chocolate cake.

“Great, even the barista knows I’m struggling,” Virgil commented, slump into his seat. “She insisted I accept some cake, saying stuff about her favorite customer’s brother needed a pick-me-up. She was giving me this pity sort of look too. I may be struggling with the idea that I’m cursed and whatnot, but I don’t need the pity.”

“It is alright to tell those who care about you that you need help, Virgil,” Logan said, softly.

He rubbed his face. “You’re eating one of these slices. These are too sweet for me to eat both.”

“Very well,” Logan answered. “Do you wish to discuss what I found now or just sit for a little?”

“Let’s see it.”

Logan handed over the file. He could see the disappointment in Virgil’s face as he looked over the few pages that the advisor had scrounged together. Virgil started to read what was listened while Logan mindlessly munched on the slice, finding that he agreed with Virgil that it was too sweet. _Patton and Roman would absolutely love this though._

“Great, nothing,” Virgil commented, shutting the file. “Ugh, why didn’t I ask him what the woman’s name was?”

“I spoke with a couple of fairies, and no one had any clue about what Robert said about the purple-eye curse, so there is that.” Logan offered.

Virgil planted his head against the table. “This is just like that cursed box all over again.”

“You could ask…”

“No. Thomas has made it clear that he did not want to discuss this with me, Lo.”

“I could try…”

“I don’t see that working either, Logan. Maybe I’m just overreacting once again.”

_“YOU!”_

Logan and Virgil both jumped as a furious looking woman stormed over. “It _is_ you!”

“Pardon?” Logan asked, looking over her, confused.

“I don’t know what you did, but you _ruined_ my life!” she shouted. “My husband left me and took my children! No one takes me seriously anymore! All because of _something_ you did!”

“Pardon? I do not recall having met you before.” Logan answered, startled.

“YOU DON’T REMEMBER ME!” She screeched. “YOU ARE A TERRIBLE BEING WHO DOES EVEN CONSIDER TO REMEMBER WHO HE TRICKS!”

“Lo,” Virgil whispered softly. “She’s the woman whose dog killed Gala’s mother. Remember?”

“Ah,” Logan suddenly nodded. “Karen Smith, was it? What makes you say that I am the reason for your decline in life-pleasures?”

“So now you remember! Not that it matters anymore.” She announced, smiling brightly as if she caught him. “I don’t know what you did, but my new boyfriend went and fixed whatever it was you did!”

 _Fixed? There’s no way someone could have just fixed his little trick._ Logan carefully let his magic reach out and touch this annoying pest. He didn’t even feel a trace of his magic. If this was the same woman that had annoyed him that day, she should still have a trace at the very least. _How did…_

“Look, ma’am. I have no idea what you are claiming. I had suggested that you go after your dog before it got lost in the woods. You left my companions and me after to go find it.” Logan answered, frantically trying to figure out what happened.

The woman sneered at him. “I will find out everything there is to know about you, and I will ruin you for what you did to me, you hear? I will ensure that your work fires you and you never find a job again. I will…”

“Hey, Karen. Shut up and go away.” Virgil finally said. “Go take your shit out on some manager or whatever it is you Karens do. It’s not our fault your ass got dumped and lost your three children to some lucky bastard who realized he was better off without you. Stop threatening us and go the hell away.”

She stared at the man, shocked. Never in her time in this town had this _freak_ ever raised his voice at anyone, and he just decides to speak to her like that! She turned her fury onto him, though both of them knew she didn’t have as strong an argument as he was self-employed and owned the land his house was on. _That doesn’t mean she can’t scream at him until he takes all of that back, though._

Logan watched Virgil’s eyes flash as his magic sparked. “I. Said. Go. Away.”

Her eyes went wide and without another word, she was practically running away. Logan gulped as he started to clear the table, telling Virgil that they had to leave _now_. Virgil was irritated but did go inside to get a small to-go box for the remaining cake. They quickly left and headed towards the greenhouse.

“Vee, call the sandman and shifter,” Logan said, as they walked. “Have them meet us.”

Virgil caught something in Logan’s voice so he did so without argument. Both seemed surprised but agreed to meet them at the greenhouse. Virgil swung inside his house and collected Gala from where she was napping on the couch before heading into the greenhouse where Logan was pacing.

“Uh, Lo?” Virgil asked, setting the kitten down. “Karen is basically harmless. You need to breathe.”

“It’s not just about that insufferable human, Virgil. Let’s wait for your friends.” He answered.

It took Remy and Dee ten minutes to arrive. They instantly knew something was wrong from the fairy’s pacing. They thought it would be about Virgil, but both realized that this meeting was going to be about Logan and whatever was on his mind. Remy still planned on trying their best to find out what had Virgil in his stupor, but if the normally stoic fairy was worried about something, they would at least hear him out.

“Alright, what’s up, boi?” Remy asked, leaning against a table.

“That insufferable woman, Karen Smith. What magic does she have?” Logan demanded.

The three friends looked at each other before Dee answered. “Uh, none? We’re the only supernatural in the town. Why?”

“That day she and that dog of hers came to the hill, she offered her name and I used it,” Logan answered, returning to his pacing. “It was simple: whenever she tried to scream at someone about something that wasn’t their fault, she’d admit something about herself instead. Yet, she came up to Virgil and me at a coffee shop and had no trace of that trick.”

Dee raised an eyebrow. “Gee sounds like you deserved to be yelled at then.”

“No, there was absolutely no trace. Even if the magic had come to an end, there would still be a trace or hint of my power.” Logan answered, staring at his hands. “Sandman, you understand what I mean.”

“Sand Being. Screw gendered terminology.” Remy answered, automatically. “But I do understand. Is it possible she was wearing some iron or made her own fae deal?”

“Both are possible, but that doesn’t explain why there was no trace,” Logan answered. “Plus, unless she made some deal I was unaware of from someone at court, a fae deal wouldn’t override my trick.”

“She mentioned a boyfriend. Maybe he knew some spell or something?” Virgil offered, startled by how all of this was going.

Remy looked at Dee. “You’re the anti-fae expert. Do you think something like that is possible?”

“As far as I’m aware, no, but for something as trivial as a minor curse, there has to be something.”

“Wait,” Virgil finally cut in. “Uh, useless idiot here. Why is this such a big deal?”

Logan looked at his partner. “Virgil, she gave me her full name and I cast a trick on her. Something like this is strong magic. That’s part of the reason your shifter friend loathes the fae. As far as I am aware, there is nothing that could have broken that trick unless… unless…”

“What?”

“No… but it could…” Logan muttered to himself, returning to his pacing.

Dee watched the fairy pace. “Unless what, pest?”

“A strong hunter…” He answered. “Has there been any…”

“No, no sightings or warnings from any of my contacts in surrounding areas,” Remy answered, thinking about every message they’d received recently.

“Do either of you have any idea then?” Logan asked.

Remy and Dee glanced at each other, asking the same question. Virgil considered it as he pulled over his grimoire. He whispered the word fae with his hand over the book. It frantically flipped to a section. He looked over the information, before giving a small shrug, having done about all he could think of, reminding himself that he was learning so being useless was supposed to be the norm.

“You said that it is Karen Smith?” Remy asked.

Logan nodded. “Yes, that is her name.”

“Dee and I can keep an eye on her.” They said, thoughtfully. “I can use my magic to touch her memories and see if I can find something. I’ll just have to check and see if she’s still in her home and if not, where she’s staying. Dee, you think one of your little strings are up to investigating?”

“Sally should be able to follow her, no problem. If pest over here is telling us the truth, we’ll need to see what’s happening soon.” Dee answered.

Remy nodded before looking at Virgil. “Alright, on to you. What gives? I hear that you got to meet _Mothman_ and you kept it to yourself?”

Virgil gave Logan an angry but also terrified look. “What did you tell them, Lo?”

“Same thing we ended up telling Roman and Patton. We met Robert and he told us about a rumor.” Logan answered.

Dee raised an eyebrow at them. “You trying to keep secrets from us, Anx?”

Virgil groaned as he rubbed his face. “And if I am?”

Dee blinked in surprise, not expecting that sort of answer. “Virgil, are you alright?”

“At this point, does it even matter?”

Logan pushed aside his own mental struggle regarding this _Karen_ , as he turned the purple-haired man’s head towards him. “Virgil, no matter what is happening, it is always important how you are feeling. Dee and Remy care deeply about you. So do Emile, Remus, Patton, Roman, and me. I know what Robert said was… shocking, to say the least. While these two look into the Karen situation, you and I will continue to look into what he said. Believe me though, Virgil. Even if there is a connection, it doesn’t change that you are not that _woman_ nor how we feel about you.”

“But…”

“No buts. Not only will you summon Remus, but there is nothing to but about.” Dee answered. “We won’t make you talk about whatever you’re upset about but know that we will not think differently about you, Vee. Well… if you killed someone, we would like to know, just so we can start forging evidence for your alibi, a grave, and other stuff.”

Virgil rubbed his face. “I didn’t murder anyone, Dee. Still, thanks. Anyways, you two probably should get started looking into Karen, the walking meme.”

Remy looked over their friend before looking at Logan. “Keep an eye on him, boi.”

“I don’t need someone keeping an eye on me, Remy,” Virgil muttered.

They shrugged before giving him a look over their sunglasses. “Gurl, when are you going to learn that this is just something that comes with being friends with us? I mean come on, gurl! I’m your longest-serving best friend at… what are we at now? Eleven years? Damn, nope, not considering that I’m getting old.”

“I didn’t realize 26 was old,” Dee commented, unamused.

“Bitch, shut up and go get your snake,” Remy answered before looking back at the fairy and witch. “We’ll let you two know what we find out.”

“Thank you,” Logan answered. “I will keep an eye on Virgil.”

“Excuse me, I’m standing right here!”

“Yes, but Dee and Emile have our group’s collective two brain cells, so communication with the other group’s singular brain cell is most vital,” Remy answered, grinning.

“If you don’t have the brain cell, why are you allowed to communicate then, Beach Dirt?”

“Gurl, I swear. And I exist out of spite and coffee. No brain cells needed.”

Logan rubbed his head. “And I’m losing mine listening to this nonsense.”

Dee snorted. “Welcome to my world, pest.”


	37. It's Not Wrong if Dee Finds it on the Internet!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dee discovers quite a few missing supernatural connected to an account.

Dee shifted the box once again. “I’m not getting in one of those ten-ton metal death traps again, Remy. Remus and I have managed quite well over the past seven years without using a car. You’re just whining to be annoying.”

“I never said you had to get in the car. All I said was that we could have put all the research into this woman you collected in the car so we didn’t have to carry it all.” Remy answered, opening the front door.

_“Ladies, lord, and non-binary royalty watch me as I beat this geek and do it joyously!”_

The two froze as they watched the Fae prince attempted to rap, getting into his advisor’s face. Once the prince finished his attempt, the advisor adjusted his glasses before launching into his turn without missing a single beat. Dee lost his grip on the box, shocked that this nerdy fairy was capable of destroying his prince so easily.

 _Do any of my friends have a single brain cell to their name?_ Dee couldn’t help but wonder as the spectators burst into cheers.

“Do we even want to know how this ended up happening?” Dee finally asked, shutting the door behind him.

“Remus showed Logan and Roman Epic Rap Battles of History. Princey then challenged Specs and got destroyed.” Virgil answered, grinning.

Logan blushed as he adjusted his glasses again. “It is of no matter.”

“What took the two of you so long! You asked us to come over like 5ever ago!” Roman gratefully jumped on the distraction from his shock.

“Had to carry half of Dee’s library over here,” Remy whined, dumping the box they were carrying onto the table.

“Why didn’t you just have us meet you at your place?” Virgil asked.

Dee glanced at Remus, who at least looked sheepish. “A Remus-mess. He found your edible glue recipe and attempted to make it.”

“But, you literally only mix the powder into water. How… Nope. Don’t want to know.”

“Could the two of you not have just driven over?” Logan asked.

“Dee and I don’t drive or ride in cars since the crash that hurt my brain and took DeeDee’s parents,” Remus answered.

“Did you two pick up the dye?” Virgil asked, cutting off Logan from asking more questions.

Remy tossed a bag towards the anxious man. “Purple and toxic green, as requested. Don’t stain our kitchen, _again_.”

“Alright, Remus, let’s do this!” Virgil said, grinning.

Remus was on his feet grinning. “Finally! I’m going to be a green crayon!”

“Have fun, boys!” Remy laughed as the two went into the kitchen. “Do you want to wait until they’re done to discuss Karen, or start talking?”

“Who’s Karen?” Pat asked Logan.

Logan looked uncomfortable. “Uh… well… I guess we can start… with something I didn’t tell the two of you about…”

Logan explained to the room about what happened with the woman. Once the half that hadn’t heard it originally were done asking what questions they had for him, they moved onto discussing what Remy had uncovered from investigating her dreams, which was very little.

“Other than the fact that the person did tell her what to do to rid herself of the magic, it’s just a catfish scam.” Remy ended.

“I disagree. I found the forum where she was looking for solutions to her blurting-out problem.” Dee said, pulling a paper from the stacks he had.

Roman looked at the other papers. “Are all of these from your investigation into this woman?”

“Yes.”

Emile shifted uncomfortably. “I really don’t like digging into someone’s life like this without their permission. Knowing your skill, we could be in some serious legal trouble if someone found out about any of this.”

Dee considered comforting the uncomfortable therapist by reassuring him that the personal identification he had on her was safely locked in his bag. He managed to keep himself from doing so, realizing that it would not, in fact, comfort the therapist knowing that Dee had managed to get Karen Smith’s social security number, a couple of credit card numbers, and some other serious information. He decided to just keep his mouth shut, which seemed to only tell the therapist what he wasn’t saying.

“DEE!”

“It’s really a good thing I found them! I pulled them off the internet for her. She should be grateful!”

“You’re going to get all of us into so much trouble if someone finds out!”

“Sure, Virgil gets to take a non-service animal into any and every store without you complaining, despite that breaking a ton of rules and laws, but I get the lecture.”

“Galaxy sits in silence in a bag or coat when she does go into a place! She doesn’t get into trouble like this!”

“And this information was just floating around on the internet! I didn’t do anything illegal to get it!”

“Having it is probably enough, Dee!”

Remy rolled their eyes as Dee and Emile started to really get into it. Emile was chill with a lot, but he drew the line when it came to illegal stuff. They glanced into the kitchen where they could see Remus and Virgil making a point to ignore the screaming from the living room as Virgil dyed Remus’s mustache.

“AH SNAKE!” Remy suddenly had their arms full of the Prince of the Fae, shaking and screaming.

“RUDE!”

“Not you!”

Logan sighed as he scooped up a small green snake off of the carpet. “I believe Roman means this snake, shifter. Though his reaction was a bit extreme.”

“Sally!”

“Alright, everyone just take a deep breath,” Remy announced as they dumped the prince onto the couch. “We’ve got more important things to discuss, overall this screaming at each other. Dee, take your green noddle from Logan and sit back down. Emile, we all know Dee has quite a bit of illegal information, so we can discuss it’s _proper_ disposal after we discuss this Karen issue. If he thought it was important enough to print out, then we’ll hear him out.”

Logan handed over the small green snake. “I do have to say that this is an impressive amount of work done in the past three days, Dee. Sometime later, I would like to discuss your research methods, if you don’t mind.”

“Later,” Remy stated. “Now, what were you getting ready to show us, Dee?”

“First,” Dee answered before calling out. “Virgil, you still listening in?”

_“Yeah, why?”_

“Has Karen asked you for any herbs recently?”

_“Uh… no, I don’t think so. It’s kind of unusual for someone to come ask me for any herbs directly. Only Sharon asks me directly.”_

“Has she asked for some unusual herbs compared to normal?”

 _“Uh…”_ there was a pause. _“Actually, yeah. If I remember correctly, she had some print out about new aromatherapy she wanted to try. I don’t remember the common herbs she needed but she did need Mugwort, Mullein, and Vervain. Normally, it’s stuff like lavender or basil or whatever. Why?”_

Dee looked over the paper in his hand, muttering the three herbs to himself. “I found a forum post were Karen was given essentially a potion to, and I quote, ‘erase all traces of negative energy and mind tricks’. She had posted a couple of days later that it worked. There’s a whole list of herbs she’d need but a lot of them can be bought from the store. Take a guess what three herbs she could _not_ buy from the store?”

“So, we have the answer to how she doesn’t have a trace of Logan’s magic,” Remy commented. “But, I wouldn’t have had to help you lug two-ton boxes of papers over here if there weren’t something else.”

“Well, the box you brought is…”

“Is?”

Dee awkwardly coughed out “…for Logan.”

“What’s in it?” Remy demanded, glancing at the box.

“Explanation of how this worked. I…uh… figured the pest would… like… to know how…”

“Aw, you do care.” _Logan shouldn’t have managed to say that with as straight a face as he did_ , Dee thought.

“Whatever, pest.” He waved at the box he’d brought. “This is my research into who gave Karen the spell, a.k.a. her new boyfriend.”

 _“Which does not sound good,”_ Virgil called from the kitchen.

“That’s one way to put it,” Dee stated. “I agree with Remy that this person is definitely catfishing, but I disagree that it’s only for her money or whatever catfishers go for.”

Dee started to layout papers across the floor. “Logan, I asked you for specific files on a couple of fairies. Did you bring them?”

“ _You_ asked a fairy for something?” Remy feigned a gasp.

“For the rabbit hole I found myself going down, I’d make a deal myself for this information, so shut up,” Dee stated, accepting a folder from Logan.

He quickly read over the ten different missing beings cases. He pulled the papers out and added them to another stack he started to layout on the floor. Watching the shifter, both Remy and Logan paled, seeing what Dee was laying out.

“Geez, this looks like one of Remus’s murder maps for his novels.”

Dee looked up to see Remus and Virgil looking over the mass of paper. Virgil’s head was purple while Remus had a green head and, _great magic help Dee_ , a green mustache. Dee nodded, solemnly as he took a seat on the couch, looking over the web of papers.

Logan looked at the shifter. “Let me get this straight. You are suggesting that this single account has sought out signs of supernatural from superstitious middle-aged women online and is the reason for their disappearances?”

“I’m not suggesting it, pest. The proof is right in front of you. The files you brought align with some records attached to the account early on. It all makes sense, and this comes from someone who proof-reads murder mystery novels for their feasibility.”

Roman eyed Dee, uncertainly. “I do not trust you, shifter. You are too knowledgeable about this kind of stuff.”

“Good because I do not like you pests.”

“Wait, Lo,” Virgil said, diving for one of the pages. “Avery. She was…”

“Yeah, I noticed that as well, Vee.”

Remy looked between the two of them. “What’s this about?”

Virgil took a slow breath before answering. “You asked why I was off a couple of days ago. Mothman, a.k.a. Robert told Logan and me a rumor about a green and purple-eyed woman who supposedly committed a number of atrocities in the Realm of the Fae. One of the fairies supposedly killed in that mess was this woman: Avery Green.”

“Well, if Dee is correct in his massive amount of research, she was not killed in the mess we’ve been looking into,” Logan said, looking at Virgil. “Three others are also laid out here, meaning four names were not killed in those attacks. That is finally something we can work with.”

“Uh… guys?” Emile said, reminding the beings that he was still here. “Shouldn’t we be worried that this _account_ may be coming here? There is quite a bit of evidence suggesting that we should be worried.”

Dee cleared his throat uncomfortably. “If we all plan to keep Virgil safe, yes, we should.”

“Wait, why only me?” he asked.

“Hunters do not go after sandme- _sand beings_ , so Remy is relatively safe. So long as I do not shift any time soon, there will be little pointing towards me. These posts discuss you and Logan, so whoever is behind these will be coming for the two of you. You are in the most danger as you can roam from the fairy circles whenever you want while Logan can just remain in his own realm.”

“OK, what if I stay in the Realm of the Fae until this mess is over with?”

“You cannot do so just yet,” Logan said, wincing at his own words. “Unfortunately, you still need to develop more of your own magic and we have to strengthen the bond between the four of us before it is feasible for you to stay extended periods within our realm. Essentially, building up a long-term tolerance for our realm, so to say.”

Remy looked at the fairy. “Sending him away does sound like a possible solution, though.”

“Dee as well.” Remus suddenly piped in.

“ _What_.”

“I’m sorry, DeeDee, but I want you to be safe,” Remus said, softly. “If this is all true, even if you don’t shift, you’ll still have touches of magic that a trained hunter will know to look for.”

“He is correct, Dee,” Patton answered, looking uncomfortable with all of this. “While you may not be as much of a target as Virgil or us, if a hunter does come, you will still be in danger.”

“So, the three of you will have to leave,” Emile said, sadly looking at his partner.

“Excuse me, three?” Remy asked, shocked. “Hunters do not play with sand beings, Em. I’ll be fine. Plus, I technically can’t leave my post out here, not for that long. We can discuss this once Vee and Dee are out and safe.”

“Remy…”

“Emile, my leaving will cause trouble. Hunters know sand beings are vital to the sleep cycle of life, so they do not attack us. I will be fine. I can start some paperwork stuff for time-off request or whatever, but that will take time and for now, we need to focus on the actual targets claimed in the posts. Logan, how long until you think Virgil can jump circles properly on his own?”

“We were actually going to have him test that tomorrow,” Logan answered. “Why?”

Remy nodded. “We’ll make sure he can travel through them on his own first. I know a deal-style thing that will allow Dee to jump circles with Virgil, but it will not allow him to travel into your realm proper.”

“But, that’s not possible…” Roman answered, surprised. “Only fae and their witches can use the circles.”

“Correct, for the most part. Witches can use the circles for transport once they enter a deal. Companions, particularly of the animal kind, are capable of traveling with a witch, though. Did you never question how Gala was capable of going on your adventures?”

“Remy, I am not making a deal with those flying rats,” Dee stated.

Remy rolled their eyes. “And you won’t be. You’ll be entering a deal with a witch, who is our best friend.”

“So, after that? What?” Virgil demanded. “Dee and I just start our lives over somewhere else until we get a message from you lot saying that it’s safe to return when its entirely possible that that message will never be possible?”

“Until we can figure out how to keep the two of you safe,” Remy stated. “You’ll still be able to talk with your cuties, Virgil.”

“And I just have to leave my husband, friends, and snakes behind?” Dee demanded.

“Dee, please. I can watch over the snakes.” Remus said, softly, not looking at his husband. “We can still call and video chat and whatever. I know this feels like an attack on your pride, Dee, but please. I would rather make do with a long-distance relationship over having to… having to… Dee, please.”

“Ree, I can’t… I can’t just leave you.”

“Dee, I know that I can’t control my impulsiveness or words or not act upon even the weirdest idea that crosses my mind. But I’ll have Remy and Emile still. They can help keep me safe while you are away. I nearly lost you once, I can’t… not again. And this time, your dad won’t be at my side squashing any thought that you might not make it. Please, Dee.”

Could Dee really argue with him? Remus was nearly in tears with a green mustache drooping as it dyed. Yet, Dee also didn’t know how to function anymore without this chaotic being in his life. They’d been best friends since elementary school and married for the past seven years. How could he just leave?

Dee shut his eyes, trying not to cry as he answered. “You two bastards better keep a good eye on my idiot of a husband. Do you understand? If he’s hurt… a damn hunter will be nothing compared to me.”

“Of course, Dee. He can even take over our spare room.” Emile answered, wanting to ease Dee’s pain at this decision.

“It’s not goodbye just yet. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow, before goodbye.” Remy stated. “Now, will you two idiots go wash out your hair? It’s been like an hour. I’ve already dealt with in-too-long hair once. I’m not playing that game again.”


	38. Everyone is Grumpy, What Else is New?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil tries to jump fairy circles.

“HOW DOES IT GLOW! VIRGIL, DID YOU POISON MY HUSBAND? IF YOU DID, I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!”

Virgil was laughing as he turned off the UV light. “Come on, Dee. I told you I found the perfect hair dye for Remus and you didn’t expect it to glow? Did you not even glance at the bottle of hair dye to see it said ‘glows under UV light’?”

“EVEN HIS MUSTACHE IS GLOWING TOXIC GREEN!”

Remus cackled. “Well, I love it!”

“I am curious why you didn’t tell us about this yesterday when you were dying his hair,” Emile said, smiling at the cackling man.

Virgil lost the grin. “It wasn’t a good time? Heck, even now is still bad as we literally got together to discuss plans and whatnot, but I also wanted to show Remus the extra part.”

“Sometimes, I think you understand me more than this snake boy.” Remus giggled, hugging Dee. “Not only did you accept my challenge of green hair but made it even better! Now to find me one of these light thingies!”

Virgil offered the little flashlight to Remus. “Here, you can take mine. I have a regular keychain flashlight anyways.”

Remus took it. “Are you sure?”

“Just accept it, Remus. I don’t need a UV light anymore.”

“Why did you need one in the first place?” Emile asked, curiously.

“Spilled a potion and became so paranoid that I bought it to make sure that I had fully cleaned it up. To which both Dee and Remy called me an idiot and handed me a gallon of bleach, insisting that would cause stuff not to be harmful, which I disagree with as some things can make bleach more powerful and then the matter would be worse and…”

“Virgil, take a breath.”

“I still hate this plan.” Dee spat, looking over the papers the group was discussing.

“Hate it all you want, so long as it keeps you and Virgil safe…” Remy sighed.

“I still wish you’d go with them, Remy. Your post is fairly large. Surely you can go hide somewhere…” Emile started.

“Nope, we spent hours arguing about this last night. I’m not going through that again, Em.” Remy sighed before flipping one of the pages. “For now, we need to see if Vee can use the circles on his own. Then Dee and Vee make a temporary deal where Dee agrees to act as his familiar. And after that… well… I guess it’ll be goodbye.”

“If those pests found us somewhere to go,” Dee muttered, mentally hoping that they didn’t.

“The Prince of the Fae not being able to find a safe place for his partner? Yeah, I wish you luck with that one, Dee.”

“Hey, shut it, Sand Bitch.” Dee snapped. “All of this… is shit. Sure, send Virgil halfway across the country. He and that damn fairy got themselves into this mess. If you’re going to stay here, I don’t see why I can’t as well. It’s complete shit that this dumbass gets himself into trouble and I have to go down with him.”

“ _Dee_.”

“Not only that but I have to _trust_ that those damn pests are actually willing to help. This is complete shit and-“

“DEE.” Remy’s voice instantly silenced the upset man. “Look, I know it’s a mess, but it’s no one’s fault. What we are doing is ensuring that you guys don’t get hurt. You agreed that this was the best course of action. If you have any other ideas, please share them. We need to work fast as we don’t know when or what that bastard has planned. If your murder map is anything to go by, this hunter knows what they are doing. You and I have known the risks of being who we are. We can’t help it. This is one of those times, where we just have to work fast and hope. It is not forever.”

“Rich coming from the being who isn’t leaving, because they are so-called safe.”

“Dee, I’m sorry.” Remy sighed. “Virgil, when are the fairies coming to test your stuff?”

“I…uhh… in about an hour?”

Emile sighed. “You two should start heading over then.”

“Probably for the best.” Remy agreed, standing up. “You ready, Virge?”

_“Mrrrph.”_

“Gala, your name isn’t Virge. It’s Galaxy. I was speaking to your human.”

She gave a yawn before digging her claws into her human’s shoulder. _“Mrrrrph.”_

Virgil rolled his eyes at his cat as he stood up. “I mean, I have less say in any of this than Dee, so do I really get to say in if I’m ready or not?”

“OK, please, no more of this,” Emile asked, upset. “None of us are happy with this decision, but it’s been agreed on by everyone, so can we please?”

 _No, I didn’t agree, you all just decided on what was best and are making me follow your decision._ Virgil managed to bite his tongue though, knowing they were trying to act in his best interest. He just led Remy out into the garage and climbed into the passenger's seat of their car. Remy noted that Vee wanted to spit and rave about all of this but was keeping it to himself. They drove down the street, silently, wondering where they wanted to begin.

“Virgil, I am sorry about all of this. I swore to you that I would keep you safe and I… I just keep messing up.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, Remy.” He stated, watching the passing trees. “Like Dee so kindly reminded me, it’s me and Logan’s fault for this mess. You all should just save yourselves the trouble and just tell me to get lost. It’d save you a lot of suffering because of my own incompetence and inability to do one single thing without messing another thing up.”

“Virgil, don’t say that. You are an amazing individual who has suffered through the bad hand you were dealt. Sure, you’ve made some mistakes, but who hasn’t? Mistakes are just a part of life. Those mistakes do not define you. And what are you talking about, not being able to do a single good thing? You have a certain kitten on your shoulder who you literally hand-feed and cared for until she could do so herself.”

“Sounds fake, but whatever. I’m not really in the mood for this, Remy. Let’s just get to the hill and get this over with. Sooner you lot can get rid of me, the less you have to worry about my mistakes.”

“Virge…”

The purple-haired man turned his body so he was facing the door window. Remy was sure that it was uncomfortable, but they understood the meaning. They tiredly sighed as they continued on. _Maybe his partners can help him._

As they pulled up to the bottom of the hill, they couldn’t help but weakly chuckle to themselves. “I can’t believe how much has changed since I told you about the weird flower I found up there. I know you’ve gone through a lot the past couple of months, but you’ve also seemed the happiest since meeting that fairy.”

Virgil paused before climbing out of the car. Remy sighed but followed him up the hill. They took a seat inside the fairy circle. Gala happily started to prowl through the grass. She brought her human all sorts of things, trying to find one that would make him smile. So far, no stick, leaf, or weed interested him. Bugs made her human scream before throwing her gift away as far as he could, _which was rude, he could just give it back!_

_“Greetings, fair beings!”_

_“Roman, if you do not return home this instant!”_

_“Oh come away from your ring of toadstools, Lo.”_

“I think your cuties just arrived, Vee.”

Remy and Virgil watched as the prince and his advisor argued before Patton stepped in. “This is getting us nowhere, you guys. Lo, RoRo isn’t going to return. He’s a bit too stubborn to do so and he’s already here. Maybe we can just move on?”

“Actually, I agree with Logan on this. The Prince of the Fae shouldn’t be here when there’s a high chance of a hunter coming.” Remy said. “But I see your point, sunshine. How about this: Nerd, you said you were skilled in protecting your prince. He agrees to stick with you and he can stay.”

“No. His Highness is to return to the palace, where he is properly protected.” Logan commanded.

“I’m not afraid of some old Dragon Witch, Lo. Lay off. I’ve got my swords. Pat has his whip thing. You have weapons upon weapons on your person that I’m not even sure what you have anymore. I’ll be fine.”

“Hey, VeeVee!” Patton announced, trying to outmatch his partners in loudness. “How are you!”

“Worse than earlier,” Virgil stated, standing up. “Let’s just get this over with. Then you two can stop arguing.”

The partners noticed the comment. “Virgil, if you are…”

“No, this has to happen for any of the plans in place to work. Let’s just get this over.”

 _I am so going to regret this,_ Logan sighed. “Roman, I swear upon my wings…”

Roman understood the branch Logan was offering him. “Alright, Lo. Compromise for our beloved dark Knightmare over here.”

“Patton, head over to the restaurant,” Logan ordered.

Patton saluted him, offering a small grin. “You got it, Teach!”

With that, the fairy vanished, leaving a confused Remy, looking over the remaining three. “What’s that about?”

“Patton is acting as a familiar energy source that Virgil can reach out and find. It’s essentially a fall back option along with reappearing in the palace.” Logan looked over his anxious partner. “Are you sure you’re up for this, Virgil?”

 _No._ “Let’s just do this, already.”

“Alright,” Logan sighed before softly instructing Virgil on what was about to happen.

After a few minutes, Logan finally nodded as he stepped back, giving the witch some room. Virgil took a deep breath, concentrating on what he was about to do. With a final breath, he stepped forward as time seemed to slow down, crawling past.

Remy suddenly found themselves being thrown back. They saw tiny Gala hissing, with bright glowing eyes, as a bright purple wall slowly sprouted between Virgil and the rest of them. As the wall grew, a blinding light shot down. Remy’s eyes struggled to close as the lightning struck the hill, but the wall blocked most of the light. It didn’t stop the roar that ripped through the air, shaking their bones, as the earth beneath them growled in response.

Then, as suddenly as time seemed to slow, it jolted back into proper motion. Remy’s body still vibrated from the thunder, but as Gala’s wall vanished, their eyes were drawn to where their best friend had been. All that was left, was a smoking patch of burnt grass.

_“Get off me, Specs!”_

_“Oh, yeah. Hold on.”_

Remy was only vaguely aware of the movement from their side as Logan stopped shielding Roman and stood up. Their eyes were busy following the small lines of smoke floating up. They could hear movement and a couple of little sounds from Gala, but that didn’t match the warning bells in Remy’s head. _Where is Virgil?_

“What. The. Heckety. Heck. Was. That.” Roman demanded, before noticing the patch. “Wait! Where… No! I’m coming for you, Emo Knightmare!”

 _“Roman!”_ Logan’s shout didn’t stop the prince from vanishing. “Damn it, Roman! We were supposed to wait here for confirmation!”

Remy finally managed to knock themselves out of their daze. Logan’s words took a moment to process, and they heard him sprouting more, but they could only focus on so much after nearly being struck by freaking _lightning!_ Still, they yanked out their phone and called Virgil. _Nothing._ Called Emile. _Nothing._ Dee. _Nothing._ Remus… _Nothing._

“No dice from anyone.”

Their body was trembling, but they forced themselves to stand up and inch over to the black ground. The magic flowing through the very air around the spot was overwhelming. Remy became lightheaded as they moved closer, almost drunk on the feeling of that extraordinary power. Logan cut off in time to rush forward and yank the sand being back.

“Don’t. We don’t know what happened or if something will happen if someone touches such violent remains of pure magic.”

Remy shook their head, trying to clear it. “It doesn’t have the same feel of Virgil’s magic. Whatever just happened, someone has bigger plans.”

“ _Someone always has bigger plans. Particularly for your group of misfits._ ”


	39. Reverse Dealings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang get taken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: kidnapping, injuries (unspecified)

_“AHHHHHHH!”_

The man didn’t even seem surprised as the fairy and shifter tried to run him. It was almost pathetically easy overcoming the group. The fairy couldn’t leave the circle to attack, so the man simply stepped out and dealt with the shifter first, then the…green mess, and finally the human who was trying to escape. He easily tied their hands behind them, making sure to work fast before the shifter managed to reorient himself. Not concerned about the two fairies in the circle, the man dumped the three beings in his van. With an easy smile, he collected the third fairy and dragged him over to the circle.

“Lo!” one of the fairies screamed.

“If you don’t want this disgusting thing dead, you’ll do as I say. Got it?”

The two fairies looked at each other, knowing they had no choice. This bastard had done something to the fairy circle, keeping them from being able to leave. Not only that, he had their partner. Logan was slumped, unconscious in the man’s grip. Patton could pick out several injuries and he really just wanted to yank his partner into a loose hug and care for him. Roman wanted nothing but to murder this bastard who had hurt his beloved nerd.

“I said, got it?” the man asked, pulling a knife from his pocket. “Answer carefully, or the fairy get hurt.”

“What do you want.” Roman finally demanded.

“Pick up one of those pretty little whiteish mushrooms, each.” He answered, calmly. “Very good, you’re learning. Now, use that little toy of yours to place a drop of blood on the piece.”

Roman realized what the bastard was having them do, but he saw the knife move closer to Logan, and he wasn’t willing to risk his partner’s life. Without a word, he picked his finger and let a single drop of his blood onto the mushroom. He tossed it out of the circle, knowing that was to be the next order. Patton was pale, but followed Roman’s lead, terrified of what was happening.

The man dumped Logan onto the ground before picking up the two mushrooms. After carefully wrapping them with a herb, the man started to carve a ruin into the mushroom. Once that was finished, he wrapped them up with a chain. He rose the two and looking straight into Roman’s eyes, he said each of their names, completing the forced deal.

Roman wanted nothing more than to chop off that satisfied smirk off the bastard’s face, but he easily banished Roman’s weapons before stepping into the circle and placing the necklace around the Prince’s neck. He did the same to Patton before moving back to the unconscious advisor.

“Pathetic. This one at least gave me a half-decent fight before its partner collapsed.” He mused, slinging the fairy over his shoulder. “Now, come along like the good little enslaved fairies you are.”

They followed the bastard out. He stopped suddenly, as a woman seemed to stare at them in shock. Roman had no clue who she was, but as the bastard grinned at her, Roman decided that she could die as well. Bastard-man opened the back of his van, easily knocking the shifter back in, before waving the two fairies in.

Smiling as he looked over the group in the van, he called out. “Thank you so much for the tip, dear Karen. You can rest assured that this pest and its friends will never bother you again.”

Roman heard another voice telling the guy to hurry up. He unceremonially tossed Logan’s body into the van before slamming the doors shut. Inside, Patton felt around the dark room, searching for his injured partner. He found a wing and moved closer to the figure.

“Who all is in here?” Roman asked, desperate for some light.

“I think he got all of us?” Emile answered. “Considering it was the five of us at the restaurant and Logan, Remy, and Virgil at the circle.”

“Wait, Virgil is in here?” Roman demanded. “He vanished which was why I popped over to the restaurant.”

There was a pause before “I have Vee’s flashlight. I just need to get out of these ropes.”

Roman blinked. “Where are you? Bastard didn’t tie Pat and me. Not that he has to.”

Suddenly, a body fell into Roman’s lap, making him screech, only to hear Remus giggling. The prince muttered under his breath but felt around for the man’s wrists. It took a moment, but Remus was freed. He pulled out the little flashlight and lit up his face, causing Roman to shove the man away, screeching once again.

“WHY ARE YOU GLOWING! HUMANS AREN’T SUPPOSED TO GLOW!”

“May I see that, Remus? I want to properly see how Lo and Remy are doing.” Patton said, ignoring his screeching partner.

Remus nodded and handed it over. Patton knew Logan would require more examination, so moved over to Remy. He couldn’t even find a bump on the sand being’s head. The van lurched and Remy gave a snorting snore, which relieved the medic.

“Asleep. They must have had a narcoleptic episode.” Patton said.

_“We’re moving. Oh fangs, we’re moving.”_

Emile looked at Patton before nodding towards Logan. “You look at Lo. I’ve got Dee and Remus.”

The two went to work. Emile gently started talking to his friends, desperately trying to calm them. _Not that they don’t have a right to be panicking about everything, considering we’ve been kidnapped by some creepy dudes, who seemed to know how to fight the supernatural._ Emile shook his head, _not the time._

“ _’ah_?”

“Hey, hey. I’m here, LoLo. Just stay laying down, please.”

The advisor followed the request for almost five seconds, before what happened slammed into him. “Wait, where are we? What… Wait, hunter!”

Patton gently shooshed him. “We’ve all been caught, Lo. He did something to the fairy circle in town where Ro and I couldn’t leave it. He’d already caught you and Remy.”

“Remy!” Logan sat up, ignoring how his head spun. “Where… where are they? Where are my glasses? Roman and Virgil, are they alright?”

“I’m fine, Specs.” Roman answered.

Patton moved the flashlight, looking around the van, not seeing the witch. “We aren’t sure where Virgil is. I thought he was still with you guys, but Roman just told us that he vanished.”

“No, no. Not just vanished. He was literally struck by a bolt of lightning with enough magical energy to…to… just a lot, alright? Roman shot off into the circle. If… If that bastard had already caught Remy and me before you guys…”

Patton did not like the look of horror and pain on Logan’s face as the advisor’s eyes sought out their partner. “I… I failed you, Ro.”

 _If we survive this, I am never going to ignore what Logan tells me to do…_ “No! You were right, Lo. I was stupid and messed up. You told me it was dangerous and that I should have returned home, but I chose to ignore your concern.”

“Roman, it’s… I’m supposed to account for that. I _fa-failed_ you.” Logan’s voice hitched.

“No, Lo…”

“If… if we survive this, you can find a better advisor, Roman… one who won’t fail you again.”

“Logan, stop, this isn’t about you failing. It’s on me for my capture. Please.”

Logan blinked tears out of his eyes, looking around the metal room they were in. “It doesn’t matter now.”

_Thump._

“Damn.”

The three fairies looked over at the therapist in shock. Emile sighed as he shifted Dee and Remus so that they weren’t in awkward positions. Once they were settled, he moved back over to his partner and gently pulled them into his lap, where he started running his hand through their hair. Remy immediately curled in, making a small noise of pleasure at the soft touch.

“I thought you didn’t curse?” Patton asked.

“Not often, but sometimes no other word works as well.” Emile shrugged. “They passed out. This is the first time in seven years either of them have been in a moving vehicle since their accident. I guess that just leaves us for now.”

“Do… Do any of you possibly see my glasses?” Logan asked miserably, staring blankly at the ground.

The three of them looked around before apologizing to the fairy. _Just his luck. Maybe this is the world’s punishment for letting his prince get captured by a hunter_ , Logan thought. Patton gently pulled the miserable man into his arms, giving him a hug.

“Well, while we have to sit here, can I ask you guys a question?” Emile asked.

“What?”

“How did he manage to get the three of you? You’ve made it clear you couldn’t leave the circle without Vee near.”

“A reverse Fae deal.” Logan spat.

Roman sighed. “There’s a way to force a deal between a fairy and someone. It was developed for witch/fairy parents, so a witch is able to act as their children’s witch so that kids could leave the Fae Realm with their parents.”

“Oh,” Emile answered, awkwardly. “Maybe I can take it off for you or…”

“No. Not only does that risk our lives, it would also hurt you. These are _Clitocybe rivulosa_. They are poisonous to humans.”

“Logan, I knew you were a nerd, but why in the winds, do you know that?” Roman asked.

The fairy felt his face heat up. “Uh… Virgil explained it to me when we first met. They are more commonly known as Fool’s Funnel or False Champignon. Apparently, they are commonly mistaken for the mushroom that makes up fairy circles. An unsuspecting person would then encounter deadly levels of muscarine, which is what makes them poisonous to humans.”

“Maybe the bastard will be poisoned then!” Roman said, hopefully.

“A hunter who knew one of the most guarded secrets of the Fae? Yeah, sure.”

They fell silent. Remy eventually woke up and required the rundown of what happened, but they fell silent after. The only signal that time was passing was the infuriating tick of Emile’s watch. Two and a half hours passed, if the watch were to be believed, before the door opened and a voice ordered them out. Remy and Roman scooped up Dee and Remus before exiting into what looked to be a bare bedroom.

The van’s door slammed shut followed by a heavy metal cell door slamming, locking the group into the cell. Remy dumped Dee onto the tiny twin-sized bed, looking around. They tried to pick up the side table, but found it was bolted in. There was a tiny window that they immediately checked out, only to find that even if it weren’t barred, it was too small for any of them to be able to squirm out of. It did crack, letting the sand being feel the grass, but otherwise it was useless.

_Well, I can still try…_

Remy willed some sand into their hand but found that they couldn’t send the sand out. They concentrated, mentally seeking out the feeling of a sleeping human, before trying to teleport to their side. That didn’t work either. _This bastard must either not have been doing this long enough, or completely disregards the complete disruption in nature he causes by taking a sand being._ Remy glanced at Emile, who was checking on Dee and Remus, knowing that this bastard was too well trained to be new.

“How many beings do you think he’s kept in here before… before…”

“Patton, don’t think like that.”

They turned their attention away from the frightened fairy as they started searching the room for anything that could help their situation. Unfortunately, everything was bolted down. They were probably lucky to even have a cell with a working bathroom, if Remy was willing to bet. They decided to try and force the side table out from its bolts. _Better than nothing?_

They froze looking over the side of the table. Etched into the metal was the alphabet and numbers. Under each letter was a bad drawing of what made the sound of the letter: a for apple, b for bat… Underneath that was a bunch of lines with names on top of the last couple of lines. The final etching on the metal were six letters.

“Oh, Virge…” they whispered, running their fingers over the name.

“What about Virgil?” Emile asked.

Remy felt around the table and found a small nail carefully lodged in the table’s side and a small, badly made rabbit stuffed between the wall and table. Remy set the nail on the table as they focused on the rabbit. It looked to be made of an old shawl. A small hole showed Remy that the rabbit’s insides were old shirt scraps.

“That is super creepy. How many children has this monster killed!” Roman demanded, seeing the doll.

“I can’t answer that, but I think I can tell you who we’re dealing with…” Remy rubbed the rabbit’s ear between their fingers. “Virgil’s father.”


	40. Magic, Who's She?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas gets a surprise visitor.

Millennia passed, yet only a breath seemed to pass.

_“The Oracle of Delphi shall grant you entry”_

_“You are a Natural Witch, Virgil.”_

He was falling but remained in place.

_“Your magic called me, child. Climb upon my back, before you perish with your village.”_

_“Gala is trying to eat my sunglasses! The fashionista denies me my simple pleasure of not being blinded by the sun!”_

Memories of ancient civilizations intermingled with his memories.

_“Burn the witch! Cleanse the village of this evil force!”_

_“All magic is evil, therefore you are evil, boy.”_

He watched marvels and tragedies pass.

_“Come on, the medics are on their way. Just keep breathing, please!”_

_“If Dee expects me to kill him, I’ll just have to kill him with kindness!”_

Virgil watched civilizations rise and fall. He watched great beings rise to glory and fall in disgrace. Magic more complicated than he could even begin to understand were cast with as much confidence as saying one’s own name. He sat through lesson upon lesson of lessons from the magical, the non-magical, the natural, and the supernatural. Ancient lessons invoking rains to modern lessons charming cars to never run out of gas. Lessons on weapons in high-stress situations involving making his own spear before a mammoth hunt to tanks on the battlefield.

He seemed to live thousands of lifetimes throughout history in a blink of an eye. The only consistent piece was that he was always with someone with a bright green eye, focused upon the natural world, and a bright purple eye, focused upon the supernatural world. Each was accompanied by an animal companion from birds to cats to snakes to fish. All with that same eye pattern as their masters.

****

Thomas sighed as he set aside the report. It’s been too quiet around since his son joined the deal with Virgil. He was thrilled for the boys! Of course, he was! But, that didn’t make it easy to lose the constant company of his son. There weren’t show tunes or Disney blasting from the other study in this hall. There weren’t screams from some heated argument barging in on his thoughts. There wasn’t cheerful chatter outside his door before a ball of sunshine came in to ask if he could steal his partners from their work for movies or snacks.

He sat back in his seat, glancing at the picture on his desk. _Roman has his adventurous spirit._ He sighed again, knowing that having your children grow up was part of life, but he’d been lucky to have such a close relationship with his son. Sure, being royalty meant Roman was kind of forced to stay, which helped a bit, but they just had a good relationship. Thomas was thrilled Roman was happy and in love, but it was still a bit hard to accept the boy who wanted nothing more than to hear funny voices while his father read him a story was grown up.

Which led to the question that had been bothering him: _what’s wrong?_ The trio was unusually quiet and reserved when they came to breakfast this morning. It hadn’t been the same tension as when Roman and Logan butted heads or when Patton was trying to hide his feelings. When he’d asked about Virgil, there’d been a weird shift in tension, but he could tell that it wasn’t necessarily indicative of an issue between the partners.

_BOOM!_

Thomas was scrambling backward out of his set as what looked like a bolt of lightning shot down from the ceiling. Anyone who cared for the king would never admit to hearing the high-pitched scream of _“what the hell!”_ that came from the king’s study. Something flew into his desk before falling onto the floor with its own startled noise. Thomas’s heart was racing as he peeked from behind his desk as the door to his study was thrown open by his guard.

“Freeze! I don’t know how you managed to get in here, but if you dare make a move…” the Captain ordered.

“Virgil?” Thomas cut them off, in shock.

The man was curled into a ball, with dazed eyes and a new wound to his forehead from where it had hit the side of the desk. “T-T-Thomas? W-Wha? Where?”

“Enough!” The Captain ordered.

“Stand down and return to your post. I’ll tend to this. He is no threat to me.” Thomas said, standing up.

“Your majesty, are you sure this is wise?”

Thomas moved over and knelt next to the shaking man. “I am sure. I will call you if I need your services. Thank you for your concern though.”

The Captain bowed before leaving the king with the witch. Thomas sighed as he pulled out his little first aid kit from his desk. _Roman’s little doodles were still on it from when he was a toddler._ He carefully tended to Virgil’s wound as the man reoriented himself. He didn’t say anything as the anxious with blearily looked around.

“Wait, how am I in your study? I thought all appearances…”

“I was planning on asking you that. Even Roman and I are forced to follow that restriction of appearing at the entryway.” Thomas answered, taping down the bandage. “Even more, why of all the places here, why my study? It’d make a little more sense if it were Roman or Logan’s, but you’ve only been here once when Roman was excitedly suggesting we introduce you at the ball. Do you remember what you were doing before being thrown into my desk?”

Virgil rubbed his eyes. “I…uh… I was trying to jump circles on my own. The second I was stepping through, something threw me off track. I… so many memories… so much information…”

Before Thomas could question him about that, another bolt of lightning shot down, but with less sound, and less startling, than the first. It still scared the daylights out of the poor witch. Thomas started to try and talk him away from an anxiety attack as a tiny black kitten with glowing mismatched eyes shot out of the light, sliding across the floor. She shook herself as her eyes stopped glowing and she moved over to her shocked human.

“Gala!” he shouted, diving for his familiar.

Gala started purring as she rubbed her head against her humans. Virgil collected her in his arms, talking so fast, that Thomas couldn’t keep up. He watched as the kitten eased the witch’s fears, relaxing him before he accidentally cast some magic. He ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the small black patch now marking his floors. _What is happening?_

“You are right in your concern, for magic’s enemy makes his return.”

“That voice… _You_! You’re from the lake! Stop talking in bad rhymes and tell me who you are!” Virgil demanded.

_“Mreow.”_

Gala squirmed out of Virgil’s arms as a shimmering light appeared over the black spot. The kitten’s eyes started to glow once again as she walked towards it. Virgil tried to stop her, but she easily avoided his attempt and pounced at the light; her tiny form was absorbed into it. A breath passed before the light began to shift into a human form.

“NO! What have you done to Galaxy!” Virgil shouted at the form.

“Your familiar is safe, young Virgil.” The form appeared more feminine with bright purple eyes, locked on the man. “For me to abide by your request, I need physical material to take form. Your familiar offered her form for me to address you. She is safe and will be returned to you, shortly.”

Thomas found himself sinking to his knees before the figure. “Great Being of Magic.”

“None of that. We do not have much time. I barely managed to adjust the boy’s course in time. Now, Virgil, to answer your question, I am the physical manifestation of magic and you are the protector of my realm. A witch of purple and green who I must call upon to correct wrongs that your great grandparents instigated.”

“Wait, what?!”

“King Thomas of the Fae, you received a grimoire extender less than a decade ago. Please return it to its proper owner, now, least your son and his partners suffer.”

“Roman? What’s wrong? Please, where is my son? Is he alright?” Thomas shot off, now more terrified than concerned.

“For now, the prince is safe. A hunter captured him and the others to complete his efforts of causing the downfall of magic. Return the extender and find what is not there.”

The figure shifted back to shimmering light, gently setting a tired-looking black kitten on the ground. With that, the light was gone, leaving Virgil now panicking even more and Thomas terrified for what was left of his family. Gala sat up and screamed at them until they were staring at her, no longer lost in their worlds of fear. She gave the king a hard look, knowing that her human would be useless without the king gently forcing him to move.

“I guess we should go get you that extender?” Thomas commented, understanding the familiar’s insistent look.

“Why the hell is this absurdity my life!” Virgil shouted at the black patch.

Thomas carefully set a hand on his shoulder. “I wish I could give you an answer, kiddo, but there aren’t always answers for those kinds of questions. Best I can give you is rather than looking at the big picture, focus on putting one foot in front of another.”

Virgil groaned but stood up and collected his familiar. “I hate that advice, but it’s the best I’m probably getting.”

After grabbing a key from his desk, Thomas led the witch from his study. The guards were giving the witch some suspicious glares, but Thomas gave them a single-pointed one. They knew the look and immediately dropped their own glares. Thomas nodded before leading Virgil down several corridors, his heart twisted, thinking of where they were heading. _Seven years since the last time I was in there…_

“This is… _was_ my husband’s study. I was planning on giving you access to it once things became a little more permanent between you four…” Thomas found himself jabbering as he looked over the familiar door. “Since… uh…well… I’ve kept his spellbooks, supplies, and random magic things I acquire in here.”

His hand trembled as he tried to unlock the door. _Why is it I still can’t enter this room without being hit with these memories!_ Virgil noticed the king struggling to unlock the door, but he decided that he wasn’t going to mention it. Finally, the door clicked open and they entered the study overfilled with magic everything.

Virgil’s breath caught as he looked over everything. The room was something from his dreams. Bookshelves lined the walls with nicknacks intermingled with the books. He stepped closer to the desk and saw scattered notes with herbs and a couple of other things he wasn’t sure about. _Hair? Pure white hair? Scales the size of his fist?_

Thomas pulled down a dark purple bag and offered it to the witch. “Hopefully, this is right.”

Virgil took the bag, noting that it was the same kind as the one his spellbook had been in. Inside was a weird metal book cover. The center was carved out, leaving a giant circle in the center. His fingers traced the ruins carved on the metal.

“Those usually go over a spellbook. Other than that, I’m afraid I don’t know. Considering the name, it probably extends the spellbook.” Thomas said, watching the anxious man.

Carefully, Virgil set it down and focused on calling his spellbook to him. He reached out and managed to pull the grimoire from midair. Thomas raised an eyebrow, impressed that the man, who couldn’t have been studying magic for more than half a year, managed to pick up that fae trick.

Virgil opened the metal cover and set his book inside. A small burst of light surrounded the book and metal cover. Once the light was gone, a book three times the size it had been sat on the desk. Virgil opened the giant book, surprised. Gala suddenly jumped off his shoulder with glowing eyes, causing the pages to rip out of her human’s hands to reveal what remained of a torn page.

“OK, if Gala is doing magic to get me to see this page, it’s important,” Virgil commented, wondering if cats were capable of rolling their eyes.

He touched the remaining page, wondering what he was supposed to do with a missing page. His fingers tapped the next page as he thought, before tracing some of the indents. Gala wanted to bite her human’s fingers until he realized what he was doing, but she couldn’t do more without violating the magic she’d used to help her human speak with the consciousness of Magic.

“Uh… hey Thomas.” Virgil suddenly said. “If I give you a little money, can you grant me extremely good luck for like two minutes?”

Thomas blinked. “That won’t be enough to go find…”

“No, not for that. I… Just trust me?”

“Alright, sure. It won’t be perfect, but usually, an American quarter is enough leverage for some basic luck.”

Virgil reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Of course, I only have my emergency twenty. OK, whatever. Luck.”

Thomas was not comfortable with this, but he snapped his fingers as Virgil handed him the money. After a nod from the king, Virgil stole some paper and a pencil from the desk. He set it over the page and started scribbling on the paper. Thomas felt his mouth fall open as the block of shading showed words. Virgil was incredibly lucky… _Did you really just dumbass yourself, Thomas?_ Alright, Thomas was feeling a bit better about the random luck deal.

“Not perfect, but you know what? I’ll take it.” Virgil commented once he had the page.

He looked over the paper, feeling something sink in him. _Ruina Magicae. “_ Fall of Magic. A complex spell to destroy magic? Why would that…”

Virgil stopped, so after waiting a moment, Thomas commented. “I mean, if someone were to cast that, now would be a good time.”

Virgil looked at the king. “Wait, why?”

“Surely you’ve seen how weak the rivers of magic are. Something corrupted it years ago. They used to fill the sky.”

Virgil looked at the book. “That _force_ did say my… uh… great grandparents did something. So I guess we at least know who’s at fault. Still, this is so complex. I’ve only seen one other…”

Cutting himself off, Virgil started to frantically flip through the giant book, before muttering and taking the extender off. The book shrunk and he quickly located the spell. Comparing the two, he wanted to scream. The protection spell he’s been daydreaming about? Of course, that would be pretty much the exact same spell!

“Virgil?”

The anxious mess shoved the book and paper towards the king before slumping into the seat. He really hated his life sometimes. Maybe his bastard father was right. Magic was just evil. If a destruction spell were so easily disguised as a protection spell…

“That’s awesome! You’ve already got the counterspell!” Thomas smiled.

“What do you mean? They’re the same!” _Doesn’t he see the truth?_

The smile slipped away. “Virgil, while they are very similar, it is the differences that cause the results. Especially with complex magic, it is the minor things that can turn the spell into the opposite reaction. I know you’ve seen this. Just a bit too much water harms a plant. Not setting out food for your familiar exactly on time resulting in her screaming at you. A scared flick of the eyes to an abusive father to the right person. Little difference can matter. Sure, we may focus more on the large differences, but sometimes, the smallest of things deserve the largest of our attention.”

“You sound a lot like my friend Emile.” Virgil picked the metal cover, feeling something weird in the creases. “Where did you even get this, anyway?”

“A shifter traded it for saving his son years ago,” Thomas answered, moving the stuff back to Virgil, who had just found sand in the creases of the cover.

Sand? Not just sand, but it has the feel of Remy’s magic. Wait, how would Remy’s sand get into something here? And shifter saving his son? Hasn’t Virgil listened to that story many times from the son’s side? _No…_

Virgil’s heart started racing as he ripped his phone out of his pocket. “Thomas, this may sound insane, but tell me, do you know the other people in this picture?”

“Virgil, nothing is ins… Wait a minute…”

“Who do you recognize, Thomas. Please.”

Thomas looked at the man, shocked. “You know my… And those three… Virgil, how do _you_ know them?”

“They’re my friends.” Something sank in Virgil. “Thomas, I think it’s time you explain why you screamed when you first saw me. How do you know me and my friends?”


	41. We Are All Connected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The past is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: injuries, death, cancer mention, blood, transphobia, unaccepting parent, misgendering of partially closeted character
> 
> This is a sad chapter. No going around that. We at least know that our beloved group are fine up to the current situation. It's still a lot, so take care of yourselves, famders. Please!

_~30 years ago_

“What do you mean you just want to talk!” the girl screamed at him. “You’re now the king! You’re supposed to be ordering my death! I killed… I… I killed all those people! I killed your parents! I broke my family’s deal with… with that _thing_.”

“I read your appeal to my parents, Cassandra. I know the horrors that fairy did to you. I’m probably one of the few beings who know that the explosion was an accident. As far as I’m concerned, that deal was never supposed to exist because you did not agree to it. And the idea of my ordering your death, do you really think I would come out here without a guard or at very least a weapon if I were planning to kill you? I’ve done my best to come to you on your own terms, so that we can talk. Half of this kingdom is already in search of blood. I just want to help.”

Thomas got a good look into her eyes. They were the rumored mismatched green and purple. They held no light and were filled with fear. She couldn’t have been more than a couple of years younger than him. Yet, the horrors this poor girl endured… The thought of his pain from losing his parents probably was laughable compared to what she has endured.

“Why?”

“Because everyone deserves a chance. I know that bastard. I know about his quest for power and what he’s willing to do for it. You tried to stop what happened two days ago and my parents failed you. I want to help.”

“You don’t know anything about what… about what…” her eyes filled. “You know nothing.”

Thomas made a decision as he slowly raised the front of his shirt, revealing a large scar across his chest before awkwardly dropping his shirt. “I may not know specifics of what he did to you, but I do know him. That was his parting gift _after_ finding out I was the prince. He wanted power and was willing to do what he could to get it. Unfortunately for all of us, my parents supported his goal for power. I know of the spell he stole from the library. While I don’t know for certain, I would assume as a witch, you were forced to cast it for him. The spell, being as complex as it was, backfired when he tried to hurry it along and here we are. Please. I’m not going to force you to do anything. If you wish to be left alone, tell me and I will leave. I just think you’d be happier leaving the Realm of the Fae and returning to the human world.”

“You’d be willing… to do that for me?” she asked, softly.

“Of course,” he answered. “If you would like, I can arrange for some nymphs to take you in to help you adjust and ensure that you’ll return to your proper realm on your own two feet. But, again, it’s whatever you want.”

“How can I trust what you’re telling me?” she demanded, but Thomas was relieved to see she was at least becoming hopeful.

Thomas looked around and found a mushroom. He picked it and asked the girl to use her dagger to prick his finger. She didn’t look sure about it, but did as he told her. With the drop of blood, He carved a rune into it. There weren’t any herbs around that he could use, so he knew the reverse deal wouldn’t be as strong. Still he told her to take the mushroom in the folds of her cloak and to say his name.

“Uh… Thomas Sanders?”

“Before the witch who holds the deal, I agree to stand by my words,” the mushroom was glowing now. “Congrats, you caught the prin… nope, not that anymore. The King of the Fae in a reverse deal. That mushroom is enough of a guarantee that I will stand by my word to do what I can to help you.”

“You are too trusting, your majesty.” She said softly, staring at the fungi, _knowing_ the power that it held. “I… I would like to return to the human world. Please. I know my family is gone, but… I’m scared to stay here.”

Thomas stood up and offered her a hand. “Then let’s go make arrangements for you to return to your realm.”

****

_~14 years ago_

“Why would you guys come here all decked out, knowing Mom would be furious!” The miserable teenager demanded.

“Because we wanted to show you that it’s OK to be who you are. Your mother is wrong, and honestly, she’s just a terrible person.” Thomas stated. “She hates the LGBT community. Have I told the two of you what that woman did at my wedding? She brought a bag of angry wasps and released them when the priest asked if anyone opposed your uncle and my marriage. Angry wasps!”

The teenager gave him a _get to the point_ look. “Alright, Hope, I’ll get to it. My point is that not everyone is like that woman. You can be ace, pan, bi, gay, straight, trans, non-binary, whatever best fits you. It’s not wrong. Your mother does not get to out you to the entire family because you’re questioning though. So, we decided to make her reconsider going around and outing you. Only you get to decide who you are.”

The teenager flinched. “Please don’t call me Hope.”

Quickly, Thomas nodded. “Alright, any other things you’d like me to stop using?”

“I… uh… Mom will be furious if she knows, but I’ve been going by Emile, he/him. Just, please avoid Hope or pronouns if you can, please.”

“No problem, bud.”

“Why do you have long hair if you are a him?” a tiny curious Roman asked.

“Roman, people can look however they wish.”

Emile picked at his ponytail. “I want to cut it off, but Mom…”

_“I don’t need you and that bastard corrupting my daughter!”_

Hearing the shout, Emile winced as he muttered to himself. “Son, please, just use son for once.”

Thomas pursed his lips. “Alright, are you sure you want it off, Emile?”

He blinked in surprise before slowly nodding. “But…”

“Hey, Roman. You want to cut some hair? Aunt Zoey will be furious, but I’ll get you two scoops of ice cream if you let her throw her fit.”

“Three!”

“Two.”

“Two and a half?”

“Alright, deal.”

“Uncle Thomas?”

Thomas looked at him. “She can’t be angry at you if your eight-year-old cousin sneakily chops it off, now can she?”

The teenager finally looked hopeful. “No, I guess not. Plus, if it just gets awkwardly cut, she’ll have to take me to get it properly fixed and I can have them do one of the cool styles! And hair stylists are _known_ to always cut hair shorter than you want.”

“So, you have any scissors? Maybe some headphones to pretend you don’t hear a little giggle behind you?”

Emile jumped up and ran from the room. Roman was giggling, excited for the ice cream! And his cousin finally looked happy! Thomas started to stage the little performance, setting Roman behind the couch, telling him to only touch the scissors once he was going to cut Emile’s hair. Emile was sat on the couch with his long ponytail draped along the back of the couch. His headphones were on and he was bopping his head to his music as his mother stormed out of her bedroom, fed up with her brother.

“I want you freaks out of my house. It’s bad enough I have to deal with having you as family. I will not have you corrupting my daughter. Hope is already having enough problems. She doesn’t need you lot making it worse.”

_Snip._

Roman dropped the scissors before running to his dad, with the full ponytail in his hand, giggling. Roman’s Pa had stepped out in time to see his sister screaming at his husband and son while his niece ran a hand through shorter hair than she had had when they arrived. He noticed a little glint in Thomas’s eyes that told him all he needed to know.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! YOU ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED TO VISIT! YOU HEAR! GET OUT!”

Half an hour later, Thomas split his scoop of ice cream and set it in Roman’s bowl. “There’s the last piece of your payment, little prince.”

“Zoey is never going to like you after that stunt, Thomas.” Jon muttered, watching his son dig into the ice cream.

“She has never liked me. Never forget the wasps, Jon. I’ve stopped caring that she hates me. She was making her son miserable! We just helped brighten his life up a little.”

“Son? What did I miss while she was screaming at me for your idea of invading her house in rainbows?”

“Uh… Hope is Emile and uses he/him along with masculine nouns, such as son.” Thomas answered, eating his half a scoop.

Jon sighed before chuckling. “Did you see how furious she was? I wonder if Emile will be keeping the Stitch we gave him. I can see her taking her anger out of it.”

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Jon cut off as he quickly pulled a note out of his pocket. “I received this while you were pissing off my sister. You might like to read it.”

Thomas accepted the note and saw the words: _purple and green eyes ten-year-old witch with hunter._

****

“You won’t stop worrying about it, so we are going to investigate, Thomas.”

“We haven’t heard from Cassandra is years, Jon. That set of eyes is only found in one family of witches. If she was taken by a hunter… She wouldn’t…”

“This is why I am insisting we go. If she’s there, we’ll get her out. We know the boy is with this hunter for sure. I can’t sit back and let a hunter get away with harming a child.”

“Alright, once we tuck Roman into bed, we’ll head out.”

****

_So many traps!_ Jon regretted inviting Thomas along. Their kingdom needed him, but he also knew that Thomas would be furious if he hadn’t. It took half an hour to finally get down the hallway to the central containment area. They could hear someone crying from one of the further cells. Jon stopped Thomas in order to check to ensure they were alone.

The child was hugging a badly-made rabbit to his chest. Thomas began to open the door, which sent the child off of his bed. He quickly shoved the toy behind his nightstand, as if to protect his single toy. He looked confused seeing the men standing outside his door but didn’t ask.

“Come on, we’re getting you out of here.” Jon said, opening his arms for the child. “We’re going to get you to safety, OK?”

“But… you aren’t dad?” he whispered.

Thomas barely kept his fury off his face as Jon softly asked. “What about your mom? Where is she?”

“She… Dad says she didn’t want me… He said he sent her away…” the boy didn’t look sure of what he was saying though.

Jon asked, wondering if this child was actually alright as he seemed less afraid than he’d thought the kid would be. “Do you want to stay here then?”

“NO!” the boy cried out before throwing his hands over his mouth, terrified.

 _There we go,_ Jon thought. “Alright, then come with us, young one. Let’s get you out of creepy lab land.”

The child slowly moved forward and let the man take his hand. They started for the exit when the child ripped his hand out of Jon’s and ran for a shelf. He started to try and climb it, but he couldn’t manage it.

“We need to go. The mean man can be coming back soon, kid.” Jon said.

“Mom’s book! I… I can’t leave it! It’s all I have of her!”

“Go, I’ll find it.”

Thomas took the child’s hand and started rushing with him out of the lab. Jon looked over the stuff before finding a grimoire bag. He pulled it off and decided that this would just have to be what he brought the child. With the bag, he started off after his husband and the child. Thomas and the child made it out safely, the child’s magic working ahead of them to stop traps. The fairy was relieved when he saw his husband, but…

“JON!”

The King’s Witch collapsed at the entryway to the hunter’s lab. Thomas and the boy ran for him. Thomas’s eyes frantically trying to figure out how bad his husband was hurt, but it was too dark to properly see him. Jon weakly shoved the bag into the boy’s arms. The kid hugged it close to him, before reaching out a hand to the man.

“No, yo-you ne-eed to run. Get as far away f-f-from here as you can, kid.” Jon gasped, gently pushing the child away. “Run.”

One terrified look at the two of them was the last look they saw of the child’s face as he pulled the book closer and ran away. Thomas was sobbing as he felt the warm liquid on his hands as he tried to feel where the wounds were. He tried to do something… anything, but Jon insisted the fairy just take his hand.

“T-Tell Roman, that I love him. And you. I love you both so much.” He gasped before shutting his eyes and, knowing that it would take the last of what life he had, Jon poured his magic into a single spell. “ _Domum!”_

Thomas felt the change around him. He heard the screams and panic. He watched as medics tried to save his husband. He felt something in him break when he heard them pronounce him dead. He blankly watched as his friends helped clean him of his husband’s blood. Once they were done, he felt himself wander to his son’s bedroom and pull the sleeping child close to him as tears slide down his face. He’ll never forget having to tell his son that his Papa died a hero trying to save someone once they woke up the next morning. He watches as part of his heart was given a royal funeral as his son begged for his papa to return.

****

_~7 years ago_

“Please, I have to save my little python.” The man begged as tears streamed down his face. “I know my name and life aren’t enough to save him. I have an ancient grimoire extender though! I… I don’t know what else I can offer you. I just need to save my little python. He’s hurt really bad and… and it’s all my fault. I was the one driving. I killed my wife. I nearly killed my son and son-in-law. He literally just got married a week ago. He has so much to live for. Please, I’m begging you as a broken father to tell me what I can do to… to save my son.”

“Breathe, please.” Thomas begged the broken man. “I understand. We can talk, but I need you to breathe for me, alright?”

It took some time, but he was finally breathing, at least. “Well, what do I need to do, fairy? Please, it’ll only keep getting worse for him. Even now, they aren’t confident in his chances. Please, what do I need to do.”

“You said you have an ancient grimoire extender? That should be enough for what you’ve told me. You’ll just have to give me a night to figure out the logistics and whatnot to make sure that it is.”

“It’s back at home.” He said, miserably, before quickly adding on. “But I can get a family friend to pick it up or…”

 _Of course it is._ “Alright, you said he’s stable at least, right?”

“Yes.”

“OK, meet me back here tomorrow. I’ll figure something out.”

“Thank you.” The man had that small gleam of hope that Thomas loved bringing back to people.

That said, he had no clue what he was going to do. He sat on a random hill, wondering how he could set this entire deal up. He felt bad for the poor shifter. Thomas couldn’t imagine the suffering he was going through. Having just lost his spouse, his son destined for a life of pain and loss as more and more complications appeared as time passed, his new son-in-law dealing with brain damage, and as if that weren’t enough, the man had six months to live because of cancer! Thomas groaned as he curled into a ball, fighting the complexities of this entire thing.

_“Sweet, I had no clue how to call one of you gurls.”_

Thomas looked up to see a being with an old leather jacket and sunglasses like some bad boy character out of a 70s movie. The fairy immediately picked up on the being’s magic, noting that they were a sandman. _So, neutral towards fairies, no major concerns yet._ Then Thomas noted that the sandman seemed extremely troubled.

“Uh? Can I help you, Sandman?” Thomas asked, uncertainly.

“I… you are a fairy, aren’t you?” they asked, just as uncertain.

Thomas ran a hand through his hair, _another one, really?_ “What can I do for you?”

“Well, obviously I’m in need of a deal.”

Thomas knit his eyebrows. “Can’t you use your own magic, or appeal to your higher?”

“Those bastards don’t care about… Look, they refuse to help me. Are you willing to?”

“What?”

Remy groaned. “OK, look. I made a promise to someone who is essentially my little brother. Sandmen don’t care about anyone else. I need to protect him. He… He’s gone through too much. I have to protect him. I need a deal for his protection. Are you willing to work with me or are you going to tell me to get lost as well?”

“Protection from what? There is only so much I can do for something like that.”

“Hunters.” Remy didn’t even give Thomas a chance to process that, before going off. “Look, I know you can’t guarantee complete protection. Something like a blanket protection over our town, hiding traces of magic. That is something I’ve heard you lot can do. If it’s too big a request, please find someone higher who can agree. Please. This hunter is close and if he catches even a sign of magic, my best friend will…He… I… He will not survive that encounter. Please.”

 _Actually, this may solve my other deal issue…_ “Well, you’re out of luck as no one is higher than me, but you are in luck as I can do something like that.”

“No one… wait… Don’t shit me, gurl. _You’re_ the king?”

Thomas stood up, brushing off his pants. “You’ve just saved me a lot of headache. That being, if you are willing to go fetch something from some random guy’s house, with random guy’s permission, of course.”

Remy blinked in shock. “That doesn’t sound like a normal deal? What happened to ‘give me your name and endure servitude for like however I feel like it’ sort of things?”

“Got rid of it, quite a while ago. I will end up needing your name as that is just the basics of the magic, but things tend to be better for everyone if we all just get along. And technically, which is good enough for the magic, you are doing a servitude thing by doing this task for me. Can you meet me back here tomorrow, same time? I’ll need to go speak to the other person and cause my advisor headache, but we’ll get this all done.”

Remy nodded. “Tomorrow.”

With that, Thomas returned home. He checked on Roman, pleased to see that the teenager hadn’t killed Talyn’s foster kid turned student, though their argument was heated. He then went and found Joan who immediately knew that they were in for a long night. Still, they accepted it and followed their friend.

****

Thomas stood in the hospital room, trying not to invade the man’s personal space. The man explained everything to the other patient in the room, who, unlike the man’s son, was awake. The boy looked over at the other bed, with hope-filled eyes. The man pulled the boy into a hug before coming over.

“OK, Remus understands what’s going to happen. Let’s do this, your majesty.”

Thomas nodded and cast the deal. The man handed over the extender, in a dark purple bag to protect the fairy from the iron, and Thomas snapped at the limp figuring. There was a groan and a soft ‘dad’, causing the man to shoot over to the boy in the bed.

“Hey, hey, it’s OK, DeeDee. You’re safe. You’ll be alright. I know it hurts now, but you’ll be better once you’re out of here. You’re safe, Dee.” He sobbed. “It’s alright, little python. Remus is here. I’m here. We’re here. We love you and your safe.”

Thomas assumed the boy in the bed fell back to sleep as the man turned to him, with a huge, watery smile. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Thomas smiled back at him. “You’re welcome.”

He gave a weak laugh as he looked over at Remus. “He’ll be fine, little squeakers.”

“Dee spoke! He woke up!” Remus looked close to sobbing.

“Yeah, buddy. Now, let’s get you in a wheelchair for your daily escape while we take the fairy back so he can go home.”

Thomas walked with the two. It was midday and there were plenty of people in the little garden area. The man led Thomas over to the hidden fairy circle. Thomas wondered how one managed to grow out here, considering a hospital would probably keep their little garden well-tailored. Not that it really mattered now. _I think I might talk Roman into a movie night. I need time with my own son after this stress._

“Thank you, again.”

“It’s no problem. Now, he has improved a lot from what I could feel, but the magic will do the majority of its work once he’s out of here, away from confused humans. Try to get a follow-up with someone who’ll understand magic sped up his recovery. I can’t promise how much it will help some of his outer scars as they’ve already started to heal on their own.”

“Yes, yes. You’ve drilled all of this into my head. I’m grateful for what you’ve done for my son, your majesty. It means so much to me. Yesterday, they weren’t sure how long he’d be out and how dim his prospects were. Now… Now, he can _live_. Thank you.”

Thomas nodded as he stepped past the boundary of the circle. As Thomas vanished, he saw the man collapse onto the ground. He appeared in the palace, with a bad taste in his mouth, hoping that the man’s collapse was from relief over... He knew he couldn’t return without risking appearing in front of a bunch of frantic humans. So, with that bad taste, he entered his home and sought Roman out, as he sent all the magical good luck he could to the two boys.

“Uh, Dad, you alright?” the teenager asked, looking over the figure.

“I… uh… Not really, but there’s nothing anyone can do to fix it.” Thomas answered, awkwardly. “Would you be up to some Disney movies with your old man, Ro? I could really use a distraction after… Uh… yeah. So uh… movies?”

Roman was already on his feet. “Of course! Let’s do it!”


	42. Virgil Wonders Why This Is His Life, Again…

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas and Virgil attempt to make plans to save the group.

Virgil rubbed his face, processing everything. “So, it was you who saved me that night. You and your husband.”

“And you’re the green and purple-eyed kid we saved.”

“I… Thomas, I’m so sorry about your husband.”

“No, do not start that, Virgil. You had no say in our decision. J-Jon’s death is on us, not you. We knew the risks heading in, and we accepted those risks.” Thomas ran a hand through his hair. “It kind of shocked me when you didn’t mention it when you got dragged here during Samhain. I thought that maybe… it wasn’t you, especially when you gave no sign of recognizing me. Then again, it’s been 14 years. That kind of trauma was probably even more suppressed for you than it was for me.”

“I never got a good look at you. Jon, however…” Virgil shifted, not really wanting to admit to having woken up from so many nightmares, screaming, watching the man die over and over again, each more his fault than the last... “So, those rumors were true then. She… Cassandra did all of those things.”

Thomas sighed. “Rumors are based in truth, Virgil. It wasn’t her fault. I know that for a fact. She was forced to perform a dangerous spell. She was forced into a deal by her parents, who were greedily searching for more power. It was never her fault; she was always forced.”

Virgil rubbed his forehead, careful not to mess up the bandage. “This is going to take me a while to process.”

The king decided that this was a good point to turn the conversation away. “Still, it’s jarring how you ended up friends with not only my nephew but also the three beings I’ve used magic for. And then my son and his partners.”

“Yeah, I’m just going to call it and say that this isn’t some giant coincidence,” Virgil commented, scratching Gala’s head as he thought. “There’s a reason.”

Thomas was violently reminded that _his son is in danger!_ “What are we even doing! Roman, Logan, and Patton are in trouble. We can talk about the past later.”

“And this magic presence thing was like ‘go get this extender and figure it out’ which is what we’re here trying to do. We know nothing, Thomas.”

The fairy sighed, knowing the witch was right. “I know, but still, I’m worried. Considering what _Magic_ said, you just barely escaped. Did you see who might be the hunter?”

Virgil looked over the desk. “It may be that I’m just paranoid and still suspicious of all of this, but I’m willing to bet everything that it’s that bastard. He had my mother’s grimoire and this extender. Jon helped me take the grimoire and the extender just somehow ends up here, where I can acquire it? Years of that bastard just playing in the background, when Remy and I have lived in the same town for almost eight years now? Yeah, no. I’m almost positive it’s him. He’s too skilled for that to be all coincidence as well. Just… why now?”

Thomas looked over the desk as he thought. “What if… what if he was waiting for you to be capable of casting this spell? This is a complex spell, meaning he has to find a Natural Witch who has properly trained their magic. Your family has been the protectors of magic since the first witch.”

Pain shot through Virgil’s head as the phrase _the first witch_ rang. “Enki…”

“Virgil, are you alright? Maybe I should have called a medic to…”

“No, I just… I got thrown a lot of information between stepping into the circle and getting yeeted into your desk.”

“Yeeted?” Thomas shook his head. “Never mind. What do you mean you were thrown a lot of information?”

Virgil pause before spilling about the billions of memories he’s lived through between stepping through the circle and appearing in his study. He kept waiting for Thomas to tell him that it was preposterous and offer a real explanation. Yet, Thomas was nodding along, thoughtfully, as Virgil explained.

“Well, from the sound of it, _Magic_ itself became tired of your, what Logan has insistently called, obliviousness. If the very essence of Magic itself took initiative and forced you to learn all of those lessons about magic, it must mean that magic is in serious trouble. Which has to mean that this is more serious than just some random hunter having taken your friends.”

“Uh yeah, we figured out the danger to magic part, Thomas,” Virgil stated, waving at the stuff on the desk. “But why bother? This weird thing basically gave me the tools to be able to cast this destruction spell while that bastard has… Wouldn’t it be better if my magic were weak or, better yet, _gone?_ ”

“Unless…” Thomas looked at the book. “Those two spells are exactly how identical?”

“What?”

“ _Magic_ specifically said you were being called upon to protect magic. I think… I think you are supposed to go along with the hunter’s plan. From what you said, you were forced to endure lessons on magic and fighting. Maybe you were supposed to see the connection between these two spells and figure out a way to cast the protection one instead?”

Virgil looked over the two spells. “No, that doesn’t feel right, Thomas. I remember having to open the grimoire for that bastard, which would make the reading spell around the book null and void. I’ve been doing that with my friends and partners so they could help me learn. So, he was able to read this spellbook whenever he wanted. If he was the one to rip out this page, he would have also known to look for the counterspell. Which means he would know to expect any attempts I make to switch the spells. That is one of the major things I remember about that bastard; he was always three steps ahead of whoever he captured.”

Thomas looked over the spells as well, thinking. “Maybe you are supposed to combine the two spells or something? It would be insanely difficult and even more dangerous, but that would explain why you were forced through those magic lessons?”

“This still just doesn’t make sense though. If that bastard was to cause the fall of magic, why now? Why would he force me, with only limited ability in magic, to try and cast this spell? It’s almost like he would rather it fail rather than work.”

“Maybe? Either way, it looks bad. A powerful witch with his friends and partners attempts to cast a dangerous spell to end magic? Bad all around. Either it succeeds and magic is gone or it fails and beings come after you lot for trying to destroy nature.” Thomas considered.

Virgil narrowed his eyes at the king. “How do you have an answer to everything I’m asking?”

“Virgil, my job is literally reacting to things going up in flames with a confident façade and offer solutions. I’m just spitballing here. For all I know, he could just think you’re further ahead than you were. That feels too simple for the same person who set up the lab Jon and I saved you from, though. So, the next answer is that he is working a giant elaborate plan. The way I see it with this answer is that he wins regardless of what happens.”

“So to counter whatever elaborate plan my father has, we’re making just as elaborate plans? This is absurd!”

“What, did things make sense before this mess?” Thomas asked, offering a small grin. “We should get to work. I don’t think we have all that much time if you were given All Levels Magic at billion speed.”

Virgil looked over the spells. _Can he really do enough to prevent whatever mess that bastard was trying to set up?_ He scowled, knowing that he didn’t trust his own magic enough for something this important. The only knowledge he had that he trusted was his knowledge of plants. Looking over the spells, as his mind raced through billions of memories that weren’t his own and even more that were, he knew that he at least had to try. Several of those not-his memories pushed to the front of his mind, offering him at least one way to use this entire mess to his advantage.

“It’s not like I’ve had a choice in months.” He answered, rubbing his forehead. “Let’s get to work making two complex spells into one giant absurdly complex spell, I guess.”

****

“Alright, you sure that you can get all of those points, Thomas?”

The king rolled his eyes as they walked to the entryway. “I have friends, Virgil. We can get it done.”

“And of those said friends is now worried after hearing that.”

Thomas spun around. “Joan!”

Joan looked over their king and the prince’s witch. “I already feel tired from whatever you signed me up for, Thomas.”

Whatever Joan expected, seeing Thomas’s panicked face was not it. “Joan, please, it’s important. Roman is in trouble. Virgil and I have a plan to save him, but…”

“Oh,” Joan shifted awkwardly, _really_ not expecting that information. “I was just joking, but what do you need, Thomas? Anything to get his royal annoyance back home.”

Thomas let out a relieved breath as he turned to Virgil. “We’ll get it done, Virgil. I’ve cleared your passage to the closest fairy circle to that lab, so the fairy circle should be active. Are… Are you sure you can go back there?”

“I don’t have a choice, Thomas,” Virgil answered, pulling his familiar from his shoulder and setting her on the king’s. “I have to save them. I’ve agreed to too many plans that haven’t worked out. This is my plan and I am seeing it through. If what we know is correct, you’ll have until sunset to complete your part. Good luck, Thomas. Hopefully, I’ll see you again soon, with Roman, Logan, and Patton.”

Thomas stopped the man and pulled him into a hug. Virgil was surprised but hugged the fairy back. Thomas stepped back, looking over the anxious witch, before giving a nod. Virgil took a deep breath and stepped through the entryway, vanishing back into the human world.

“Alright, who all do you think we can call to help us save magic on short notice, Joan?” Thomas asked, turning to his advisor.

“Thomas, you might want to lock Roman up if his disappearance results in having to save magic. Like shit, man. Let’s do this.” Joan answered.


	43. This Is All According to Plan!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil comes to the rescue!...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: fist fight, misgendering, dead name mention

“Come on… almost…” Remy rolled their eyes at Dee’s back as the shifter tried to pick the lock with the nail.

“I am impressed that you found a nail in there, but please do give me more credit than that, shifter.”

Dee jumped away from the door, with a screech. A man was staring through the barred window on the door at the group. Remy watched as the man’s lips broke into Virgil’s snarky smirk, knowing without a doubt that this bastard was Virgil’s father. The man’s eyes looked around at the rest of the group, before looking back at Dee.

“Do you really think picking the lock on your cell door would work? There’s a padlock on the outside, ensuring that a little lock pick wouldn’t be able to sneak its way out.”

Roman stood up, looking more confident than he felt. “What do you want with us, Dragon Witch?”

“Hmm… I haven’t heard that phrase before. I assume by the context that Dragon Witch is some form of fairy slang for hunters.” The man mused. “As for what I want? Well, I want my witch hunt to finally come to a successful end so that I can continue with my plans. Yet, for now, I will just amuse myself playing with my new toys.”

“We aren’t your toys,” Remy stated. “You also have captured two humans. At very least let them go, bastard.”

The man looked mildly surprised at that one. “Two? The only human I see is _her_. Being fair, I haven’t the slightest idea what that green _thing_ chewing on a filthy toy is, but I do intend to find out.”

Remy looked over to see Remus has the toy rabbit’s foot in his mouth. “Hey, bad rat. Drop it. You don’t know what that thing has been through.”

The man pursed his lips. “No, no, no. I don’t believe it’s a rat-shifter. Possibly cross-contamination of a Will o’ the Wisp and a fairy? I could easily believe that _thing_ is the prince’s brother.”

Dee fought Remus for the toy as Remy made a face at them. “No, believe it or not, he’s completely human. I’ve checked _many_ times.”

“Then, how is it glowing green?”

“Hair dye… THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT!” Remy reminded themselves. “Let Emile and Remus go. They are human!”

The man considered it. “I am not completely convinced that green thing is human, but that doesn’t matter. None of you are going anywhere, human or not.”

“They are human! Why won’t you let them go!” Remy demanded.

The man raised an eyebrow. “You are in no position to command me, Sandman. I need all of you and that vile bastard. You should be more concerned with keeping your secret safe from your little minion in there. The one about having made a deal to help the fairy take its father away.”

“What?” “ _What._ ”

“Sir!”

The man glanced to the side before giving Remy that damned smirk again. “Guess playtime is over. I do hope you’ll survive until we drag that vile witch in.”

With that, the man walked away. A door slammed a bit away before Remy’s attention was forced onto a red-faced Dee. They opened their mouth but found themselves thrown against a wall as Dee stormed over. They didn’t even fully understand what was happening, before Dee’s fist collided with their face, knocking their sunglasses off.

“ _YOU! You helped the bastard?!_ After seven years, not once did you think to tell me that you played a part in my father’s death!”

 _Another hit_. “Seven years of lying to my face!”

 _Another_. “Seven years of pretending to be my friend?”

Emile ran over and caught Dee’s arm, hoping his dead weight would at least slow down the hits. Yet, he didn’t account for how strong and furious Dee was. The fist connected and went back. Emile tried to better brace himself as Dee’s fist started moving again. Emile already knew he needed a new plan, but seeing his partner getting punched by their best friend really didn’t leave much room for Emile to think of a better one.

Remus threw himself in front of Remy as Dee threw another punch. Dee barely managed to pull the punch before hitting his husband. Remus waited for the sting, but it never came, much to his relief. Emile took advantage and curled himself around Dee’s arm, desperately trying to keep it from moving again.

“DEEDEE, STOP!” Remus begged as tears started falling. “Please, just listen to me for once!”

“Remus, you heard what that bastard said.” Dee hissed.

“Dee, please! I’ve told you. I’ve told you hundreds of thousands of times!” Remus begged.

Dee glared at his husband before looking at the crumpled sand being. “What deal did you make, bastard. Tell me!”

“Dee,” Remy’s vision was blurry from tears. “I have no idea what that bastard was talking about. Yes, I did make a fae deal, but I only went and got some weird purple bag from some dude’s house. That’s seriously all. I ran a task in order to protect Virgil. I told you about this. I _know_ I told you about this. I didn’t… I would never agree to a deal where someone died for it.”

Remus looked at Remy in surprise. “Wait, a purple bag? Would it happen to have contained an extender inside?”

“I… uh… don’t know? I didn’t look inside. I just went and got it.” Remy answered, confused.

Dee hissed. “I don’t believe you.”

Remus yanked his husband away from the sand being and Emile. “Dee, I know. We both miss him. But, will you please just listen to me on this! You were unconscious! All you have as proof is that you saw a fairy. I was awake and he told me what was happening. I watched as your dad traded the Fae king a purple bag with a grimoire extender in it. You woke up and the deal was done. We walked the fairy back to his circle when your dad collapsed. Dee, please. I know it’s easier to believe someone killed him, but it’s not true. I was OK with you dealing with it by blaming the fairies. You weren’t taking it out on anyone and you weren’t walking into fairy circles to take it out on them either. This is too far though! Remy is our best friend, Dee! You’re taking your dad’s death out on our best friend. I want him to still be alive, but he’d been suffering so badly from his cancer, Dee! The pain caused him to swerve into traffic and the accident. Cancer took him once he knew you would be OK, Dee! I can’t let you lie to yourself any longer if you are going to hurt our friends because of that lie!”

Dee collapsed onto the ground as sobs began to wrack his body. Remus immediately moved to pull the sobbing man into his arms. With Dee no longer going at Remy, Patton jumped up and ran over to the bleeding being. He informed Remy and Emile that the sand being would be alright, just a bit bruised. Remy weakly nodded, before curling up on the floor. Emile let out a breath as he shifted his partner’s jacket.

Roman looked around the room before commenting. “If it’s any help, I wouldn’t believe that bastard. He implied that there was a girl with us in here.”

Emile sighed but answered. “It was more like him misgendering me. Remus and I are the only humans in here and, while I’m not sure how he knew, I am trans. So, we can’t really brush that off as completely false.”

Roman spun to look at Emile with wide eyes. “Wait… I know this is a very wrong question, but your dead name, is it Hope?”

He flinched, hearing that name. “How do you…”

“Oh great wings, it is you! It’s me, Roman! The cousin who chopped your hair off! And Dad with the angry wasps' story!”

Emile sat there, shocked. He remembered that day so vividly because his mother ensured that he never shared a secret with her again. His father had stormed out of the house after finding out that his uncles were there to support Emile over siding with his parents. The tiny giggling cousin who had been more interested in making rainbow bracelets over the screaming match between his dad and Emile’s mom.

“But… how? I don’t… but… Uncle Jon…”

“Pa was a fae deal witch. He had human relatives and marrying dad didn’t change that.”

Emile ran a hand through his hair. “I… I don’t believe this… I thought I recognized you but placed it to someone who looked like you. What… how…”

_“Shit, I’d ask what happened to you lot, but I can only assume that bastard had some hand in this mess.”_

From the reaction of everyone in the room, one would think something had just electrocuted everyone. All seven heads turned to the window where a very familiar face stood, looking worried. A green and a purple eye looked around the tiny cell, some of the cheerful glitter was gone as he took in the prison he’d lived in for years.

Remy jumped to their feet and ran for the door, ignoring the spinning and pain they felt. “Virgil! You need to get out of here before that bastard catches you!”

They watched as Virgil held the lock. He just seemed to fiddle with it for a moment before Remy noticed the movement. They were shocked as Virgil didn’t put up much of a fight. The bastard just easily cuffed the anxious man’s hands and chained them above his head, across the room from the cell.

“You seem to have given up. I thought my nice little witch hunt would go on a bit longer.” The bastard mused, looking over the anxious man. “Look at you, you filthy little freak.”

Virgil scowled at the man. “Look, I’m here and I’ll do your stupid spell, but let my friends go, Nero.”

_Slap._

“Do not speak while I am speaking, you vile little freak of nature.”

“And I’m already back in my nightmares, so you don’t scare me. Let my friends go. They served your purpose of getting me here. I know what you want me to do and I’ll do it. Let my friends go.”

“You think their only purpose was to lure you here?” the man– _Nero_ – scoffed. “You really think that I would have my men go to the trouble of picking up seven beings just to lure _you_ here? The Prince of the Fae, his cousin, and his partners? A sandman, shifter, whatever the hell that green _thing_ is, who are all connected in special ways?”

 _That is exactly what he thought…_ “Then why? You plan to have me cast _Ruina Magicae_ , but that doesn’t require…”

The man groaned. “You really are a damn idiot, freak. At least whether you actually cast the spell or not, you’ll still finish your purpose.”

“What are you talking about, Nero.”

“You managed to figure out the exact spell that you are going to be forced to cast for me and yet, you haven’t figured the rest– the east parts– out? Really? I was proud when I heard you graduated from college and a master’s program.”

Virgil scoffed. “That’s a bucket and a half of shit. Just tell me, bastard. It’s not like I can run off and do anything about it.”

Nero considered it for a moment. “That is true. Plus, we can’t do anything until nightfall, meaning it’ll give you just over ten hours to mental anguish over your idiotic decision just to waltz into your old home and try and free your friends, just like that disgusting fairy and witch did for you. Tell me, freak. Who is every one of these freaks connected to?”

“Uh… me?”

“ _Yes_ , and who else?”

Virgil took a moment before it clicked. “Thomas.”

“Oh, you’re now on a titleless first-name basis with the fairy king. How marvelous!” Nero sneered. “Yes, King Thomas of the Fae. Imagine how other beings will feel when they realize the prince of the fae and several beings connected to the king attempted to end magic? And, with eight beings, particularly the wonderful selection I have here, who hold touches of the Fae King’s magic, it’s almost enough to believe that he was actually present himself. The very being who led the other communities into thinking that the fae is changing their ways. So, even if you fail, resulting in the death of all of you, magic will still end. You best hope that you can perform the magic, freak.”

“You can’t expect that to work.”

“What, planning on trying to use the counterspell to stop me? You freaks really don’t give me enough credit for my job.” Nero smirked, looking around the lab. “It’s almost poetic. You were born here, and you’ll die here. Spawn of magic and hunter. A witch of green and purple and a bringer of destruction.”

“What?”

Nero looked over at the door, where a terrified Remy watched. “Is he always this stupid, sandman?”

“Yeah, I’m oblivious, bastard. We are way past that. What do you mean a bringer of destruction?” Virgil demanded.

“I am so glad this plan does not hinge on your intelligence.” Nero groaned. “Do you really think you’re able to every free yourself of the chaos and destruction you watched as a child? Has anything ever worked out for you? No, because you only bring people pain and destruction. I’d explain more, but considering how stupid you are, it’d just go over your head. Now, I have plans to start. Have fun hanging around.”

“Get lost, bastard.” Virgil shut his eyes against the bright light that was not helping his overworked brain.

Silence filled the lab for a few minutes before Remy risked calling over to Virgil. “Vee, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“Then what the hell was your dumbass thinking!” Remy screeched.

“It’s all going to plan, Remy,” Virgil answered, still not opening his eyes.

 _Plan?_ “Virgil, I have no clue what you’re talking about, but this plan of yours is shit. Stop pretending and let’s figure something out.”

“No,” Virgil looked his best friend in the eyes. “For once, you lot are just going to have to follow _my_ plan. We’re too far along to change track now.”

“Bitch, you’re chained to a wall and we’re in some high facility detention center cell. This isn’t a plan; this is…this is just winging it.”

“Damn it, Remy. Do you think I’d come here without knowing exactly what I was doing? I’m not a child anymore. For once, just trust that I know what I am doing. I know you want to protect me. So much so, you were willing to sell yourself to eternal servitude to a fairy for my protection. I’m not the scared thirteen-year-old you met in a cave, trying to light a fire anymore. I know the game I’m playing and there is no turning back anymore. So, just shut up and trust me for once!”

“YOU ARE LITERALLY CHAINED TO A WALL, VIRGIL!” Remy shouted.

“Yeah, I noticed. Thank you for the obvious. I’m not _that_ stupid.”

Remy looked over their best friend. _Could he really have a plan?_ Remy did think it was strange how… _normal_ Virgil was acting, despite all of this. Yet, what plan could involve him being so easily overcome by a hunter! Being here, in the bastard father of Virgil’s lab was his biggest fear and seeing Virgil in the hands of a hunter was Remy’s biggest fear, even more than Emile in their hands as that hadn’t been a possibility in their mind.

“I seriously hope you know what you’re doing, Virgil.” They finally answered.


	44. The Idea Is Not To Destroy Magic, Vee!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil refuses to tell the group of his plan before he is forced to cast the bad bad spell.

Roman had a lot of pent up energy and no one was doing anything! Remy had washed the blood off of their face before Emile forced them to take a nap. Emile was also trying to help Roman’s energy by trying to discuss some old memories that hurt Roman to remember. _His Pa was alive in those and he did not want to fell that ache anymore, damn it._ Remus was still softly talking to Dee about what Roman’s _Dad_ had apparently done in a deal for Dee’s dad. Dee, for his part, was sobbing and muttering that cancer couldn’t have taken his dad, though even Roman could hear the doubt in his voice. Logan was messaging his temples, kind of useless without his glasses and Patton was sitting with him. Virgil was just standing on the other side of the room, though he occasionally shifted his wrists or awkwardly rolled his shoulders.

Roman finally just screeched and ran straight at the door. It accomplished _nothing_ except hurting his shoulder and knocking the antsy prince to the floor. He groaned but jumped back onto his feet to try again, needing to try _something_!

“I can’t tell which blob that is, but I assume that it’s you, Roman,” Logan commented. “You aren’t going to force your way through the door.”

“I can’t just sit here! Virgil is over there, so we can get rid of these disgusting amulets and get out of here if we can just _get out of here!_ ” Roman growled at the door as if he could scare it open.

“Ro, as much as I want to agree, there isn’t anything we _can_ do,” Patton said softly. “Virgil seems confident in his plan. We’ll just have to trust him.”

Emile glanced out of the window to the dangling man. “I wonder what’s going through his head, right now.”

“A lot of memories that I’m trying to process. And it’s a little hard to do so with the screeching and thumps of princey throwing himself into a two-inch-thick steel door.” Virgil’s voice answered.

“Come on, tell us what this grand plan of yours is, please! I’m going mad not knowing!” Roman begged.

“I cast the spell that bastard wants me to cast. Other than that, I can’t say as I don’t want Nero having a chance to counter.” Virgil still had his eyes shut. _“What the hell does ‘flowers bloom best in spring after a forest fire’ supposed to signal, Sarge?”_

“Uh… Virgil, you alright there?”

“Just talking aloud. I got hit with a lot of memories when stepping through the fairy circle and my head is still bursting with them all. I’m trying to process them before I actually have to think.” Virgil sighed, looking over to the window. “I know it’s hard to just accept this, but Princey, we just have to wait and buy time.”

Roman glanced at Logan, used to looking to him for answers, though Logan looked as confused as he felt. “Buy time?”

He looked back at Virgil, who’s eyes flicked towards a security camera. Roman looked around, realizing that there were quite a few of them, ensuring that the room was well covered. _Bastard probably has people watch over us._ Then Roman wondered if there were microphones as well, which would explain why Virgil wasn’t explaining his plan. He didn’t like this, but he figured that he at least understood Virgil had a little more idea of what was happening.

That didn’t ease Roman’s restlessness. He figured that if they were supposed to be buying time for whatever, he could at least entertain those watching the cameras. He wasn’t sure how long he had been at using the nail to try and unlock the deadbolt before he huffed and finally gave up. He slumped down next to his partners, curling into a ball, as bad thoughts filled his mind.

 _I should have listened to Logan_. He was scared and his partners were in danger. He was supposed to be able to protect them. He always figured that if he were to die, it would be like how his Pa went: as a hero. Yet, he was just some prisoner having to hope some plan he knew nothing about would work.

“That is a lot of information moving to long-term memory.” Remy’s voice intruded.

“What?” Emile asked, confused.

Remy looked around the room before standing up and looking out the window. “How the hell? I… I can feel way too many memories being processed into long-term memory, something that happens during sleep. Yet, only Vee is asleep? But that’s way too many memories for just one person…”

“Set it aside, Remy. Just let the poor thing sleep.” Emile sighed.

Remy slowly nodded before twirling their wrist. Sand appeared, glowing golden in the late afternoon light. They hoped that they could at least do this as they blew the sand out the window. Twirling in beautiful patterns, the sand left their hand and drifted towards the sleeping man. Virgil took a deep breath but gave no other indication of anything happening as he slept. _Hopefully, that makes his overworked brain process whatever easier_ , they thought to themselves.

Slowly, but surely, the sun began to set. A door slammed and the bastard was back. He was pulling down mason jars filled with plants, vials of various liquids, candles, Bunsen burners, and everything that someone could ever need to cast a spell. Finally, he undid the chains and threw Virgil at the workstation.

“For any attempt at attempting to cast that little counterspell of yours, well, just know that your friend’s death will be your fault.” He stated.

Virgil scowled but didn’t fight him. Instead, he pulled over the first jar he would need herbs from. Rather than the herbs that filled the jar, the first thing that came out was a small flower. It was white with weird petals sticking up. It was a nice enough flower, but Virgil’s fingers ran over the leaves, rather than the petals.

“Filth, what is that?” Nero demanded.

“My guess would be a flowering _Trifolium dubium_.” _Four leaves._ “It was in the Celandine jar, which this is not.”

He tossed the flower aside and got to work. Dee finally worked the nerve up to stand near Remy, who flinched but didn’t say anything, as they moved a little so he could see. Dee knew he deserved the gut punch that seeing Remy flinch gave him, but he just silently moved into the spot Remy gave him. _He can better deal with the entire Remy/Dad deal issue once they weren’t at the mercy of a hunter._ The two beings watched as their friend worked magic far beyond what he should have been capable of.

Occasionally, Virgil would pause to rub his temple but didn’t stop working. Herbs, smoke, liquids, words, and magic were flung around with so much confidence, that the two friends were terrified that Virgil might have just been throwing things together at random. Yet, the man, or Nero if Virgil’s calling him was to be believed, watched each action carefully, not harming anyone in the cell. Which had to mean that the idiot was doing something right.

Dee finally called, knowing that Virgil was _actually trying to cast this spell!_ “Anx, what are you doing!”

“What I have to. Now shut up, so I can concentrate.” Virgil stated as he measured a silvery liquid into a beaker.

“Oh, that does remind me,” Nero drawled as if he wanted it to be offhand. “That little rescue party of yours was easily defeated. Did you really think a handful of fairies, sprites, and witches would be enough to save you freaks?”

Something dropped in Remy as they saw the surprise on the witch’s face. _Had that really been Virgil’s plan!_ The witch unconsciously touched the flower, which the man smirked gleefully. Nero pulled a gun out and pointed it straight at the cell window where Remy and Dee were both standing.

“Ah, so that flower _was_ a signal. Glad to see I ruined your little plan, freak. Now, get back to finishing my nice little spell. Or, your friends don’t get to see the outcome.” He stated.

Virgil scowled at him but went back to work. Remy and Dee both wanted to scream and strangle their friend. He had hinged his entire plan on some rescue party? What kind of plan was that! _Virgil knew his father’s skill and he thought that would be enough_? Dee banged his head against the door, muttering about Virgil being such a dumbass, while Remy watched the witch’s movements.

They noted that the news of the failed rescue attempt hadn’t faltered the witch’s work. He was just as productive as before the news. Remy would give and admit that he was shaking a bit, but they knew Virgil better than that. Whenever his plans fell through, he moved with a lowered head and one hand toying with his jacket strands. His movements would be slower and he would begin to make more and more mistakes. Still, Remy knew that this was not the time to show they understood their best friend. Now was the time to act like he was a dumbass.

Hours passed as they watched. Virgil looked exhausted as time passed, but he remained certain in his work. Finally, after drawing a circle on the floor, Nero gave the witch a handful of zip ties and shoved him into the cell to tie the groups’ hands behind them.

“Jeez, what did they do to you lot?” Virgil asked as he set the zip ties down.

“Nothing that matters anymore, dumbass.” Dee hissed, angrily. “Just get this over with.”

Virgil winced at the venom in Dee’s voice but obeyed. The group let him zip tie their hands back, wondering what was about to happen. Looking into the witch’s eyes, Remy found themselves to be even more sure that Virgil was confident in something. They knew that they had to sell whatever Virgil was trying to show the bastard, but they didn’t know how to do so.

“I’m sorry, Remy. There’s no choice.” Virgil sighed, not looking at them as he tied their wrist back.

“Save it.” Remy saw the directions Virgil was giving them for their full value.

Nero made all of them wiggle their wrists in their ties. He had Virgil tighten Patton and Emile’s but otherwise, he seemed happy with the witch’s actions. He let Virgil move them to the circle he’d drawn, carefully positioning everyone in a specific spot. Dee and Roman were refusing to look at Virgil. Remy made a point to watch the witch’s every movement like they had been.

Virgil finally paused, looking over everything, weakly picking at the flower as he did so. Remy saw the witch nervously gulp as he began to move the supplies and whatever else he’d worked on for the past several hours to the circle. Once he was set up, he started pouring the vials, sprinkling herbs, chanting different spells, working magic far outside his comfort zone. The witch paused, as he found himself at the last point of the circle, hoping that he didn’t just ensure all of their deaths.

“ _Ego expello magicam_.”

_“RROOOOOOAAAAWWWWWRRRR!”_


	45. Fight…RUN for Your Life!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight between magic, without the magic, and hunters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: glass shards, throwing of glass, implied deaths, knocking unconscious, weapons being used, injuries
> 
> HAPPY IDES OF MARCH! Fun fact: I realized that this chapter was going to be released on the day Caesar died yesterday and then proceeded to spend an hour considering changing Virgil's dad's name last minute. I kept Nero because the connection to the Roman Emperor Nero who was said to "play the fiddle as Rome burned" and like that just feels right for the bastard's name lol

Remy felt the ground shaking angrily, as the surrounding area lost its magic. They weren’t sure how far out it extended, but the growling scared them a bit more than the loss of magic. Virgil stood up and looked at his father, who was now looking down the hall where the roar came from.

“Hey, for such a great hunter, you seemed to have forgotten that I have a familiar,” Virgil stated, with that _insufferable_ smirk. “And she didn’t get her wet food for breakfast because of you lot.”

_“ROOOOOOAAAR!”_

“You little shit,” Nero spat, turning his gun on the witch.

Virgil reacted faster than Remy had ever seen the witch move. The boom of the gun echoed as Virgil flung himself to the side. A jar instantly shattered, spilling what looked like sand out onto the floor. Nero shot again, this time, hitting a metal sheet on the wall. He didn’t have time to try again as Virgil shot in close. The witch’s eyes were glowing as he ripped the gun out of the man’s hand.

Nero managed to throw the witch to the ground. The man dropped down and started fighting over the weapon. To the group watching this in pure shock, it was just a wild blur of limbs and noises of pain whenever a limb made contact. The weapon seemed to decide that it didn’t like this game and spun out of the fight, not that the two fighting noticed.

“Doesn’t. Matter. What. You. Do. You. Lost.” Nero spat, struggling to pin the witch.

Virgil finally managed to scramble out, thanking all of those damn memories. “ _Counterspell_. Can’t counter something that doesn’t happen, bastard. Magic is alive right outside of a circle of fairy circles, prepared to contain the damage of this.”

The witch gave his friends a quick glance before he turned and ran down the danger hall. Nero froze, processing what the man had said, giving Virgil a moment head start. His face went pale as some unbridled, some inhuman scream left the hunter. He immediately ran after the witch who was _ruining his plans_ , not even sparing a thought about the beings he left behind in the lab.

The moment Nero was out of sight, Remy struggled to their feet and ran to the table. Their eyes looked over the stuff before locating the dagger. It took a few attempts to finally grab the dagger, then a couple more attempts to hold the dagger in a way where they weren’t trying to saw through the zip tie with the dagger’s handle. Still, they were rewarded with their wrists coming free after the attempts.

They took the dagger over and freed Dee and Roman, managing to do so before pounding footsteps announced that they had company. Dee tried to shift down but found that his magic was blocked. _Blocked, but not gone he noted_. Hissing, he broke a glass jar and pulled a shard out for a makeshift weapon. Roman took the easier path and quickly searched for the gun. Both took immediately to the fight as Remy cut Logan free.

They copied Dee and handed a shard to Logan. “Go keep your prince safe, Nerd.”

Even without glasses, Logan did not need telling twice. He threw himself into the fight, focusing on any being that wasn’t a yellow or red blob. Next went Remus, who was able to cause enough chaos to give his friends a small advantage while Patton and Emile were freed. With the last of them free, Remy finally joined the fight.

Virgil blindly ran down halls, holding a metal sheet he hadn’t even noticed picking up as he dodged not only the murderous bastard chasing him but also dumb traps. Only good thing was that the bastard had to dodge the traps as well, though he still had the advantage as Virgil triggered a lot of them.

“Where do you think you’re going, filth!”

Virgil bit his tongue as he frantically tried to plan what he was going to do next. So far, his overall plan has gone well, but it wasn’t like he could scope out the evil lab beforehand. He just had to work with what he had. He just had to find something to use as a weapon and hope his friends could withstand his father’s minions on their own. Sure, it would be much harder without magic, but Virgil couldn’t concentrate on that right now. He just had to keep the brilliant hunter away from the minion hunters and hope.

So he continued to run, using the metal sheet as a shield, occasionally shouting something back to hear a furious scream behind him. That was until he ran into a hall that had at least ten beings collapsed on the ground. Virgil wasn’t sure if they were alive or dead, and he really didn’t want to know either way. A swear behind him forced him to move forward, stepping over the bodies, mentally wondering how long this mess was going to haunt his dreams if he survived.

Back in the lab, the fighting was bad. Remy was gasping, wondering how much more their group would be able to stand. It was clear that they were all suffering from the lack of magic. Sure, they had managed to knock two or three out, but that still left like ten of these bastards. Still, it was either fight or surrender, and Remy knew that none of them planned to surrender.

So, they continued to fight a losing battle. They continued even when Dee was thrown into a table and didn’t jump back up immediately. They continued as they threw themselves in front of Patton who was trying to keep Emile safe. They continued as Remus started throwing jars and vials and whatever else he could grab at the hunters. They continued even though they saw no possibility of winning this thing.

_“ROAR!”_

The fight suddenly changed as a large panther entered the room, pouncing one of the enemy hunters. New terror-filled Remy and they were just about ready to give up. They weren’t going to fight a freaking panther! Yet, they noticed, as they continued to fight the hunters, that the panther didn’t attack Logan, but rather jumped over him to the enemy creeping up behind him. The panther ripped the enemy in front of Remy and threw her into the wall. Remy took a frightened step back as the panther turned to look at them, many, many teeth visible in that mouth. Then they noticed what should have been obvious.

_A green and a purple eye._

“Galaxy?!” They demanded.

The panther tilted its head, licking its lips, before turning and pouncing a hunter about to try their luck at knocking the prince out. They barely enjoyed the thought that Gala’s full powers seemed to be working before they were struggling against a new enemy. OK, maybe they were just very slightly distracted, _wondering how the hell the familiar’s magic was working while theirs wasn’t_. Yet, that didn’t matter when there was someone trying to kill you right in front of you. Still, having the large animal helped. Remy just kept going, slashing at anything that wasn’t one of their friends. While they weren’t going to focus on the little glimmer of hope, not until the end.

_Seven left._

A large book appeared over the enemy’s head and the person crumpled. Remy looked at their partner in shock as Emile looked at them in fear.

_Six left._

Patton jumped out of the way and managed to trip the hunter. The hunter fell straight into the mess of sand and glass. Patton suddenly wondered if extreme amounts of sleep sand could send a human into a coma…

_Five left._

Remus was standing over his hurt husband. Any and everything he could grab was being thrown. He didn’t see the hunter who was hit square in the temple by the jar of rose petals.

_Four._

Gala had one coming after her. She did not like this game, but her human needed her, and she was big, and she could do something. She saw the human pull the trigger on the metal thing. She scrambled away and heard two loud noises. When she looked again, two humans were on the ground, clinging to wounds.

_Two._

Logan and the hunter managed to slip a bit down the hall. The fairy knocked the hunter against the wall. Something started to make a _whirring_ sort of sound. The fairy managed to get out of the way before the hunter was blasted with some dark blue gas. Logan felt his heart pick up, knowing his partner was running through these booby-trapped halls, mentally begging whatever higher being listening that Virgil didn’t end up dead in these halls.

 _One_.

The sound around Roman had slowly gone down but he didn’t have time to glance around to find out why. The gun was empty and the hunter’s knife kept trying to take a piece out of his wings. Roman managed to twirl around and send the butt of the weapon into the hunter’s head.

Remy watched as Roman managed to knock out the final enemy. They didn’t even get to let out a breath before Gala grabbed Remy’s jacket and gently yanked them. They turned to the giant cat. She moved to the hall and looked back at them. It took Remy a moment to understand what Gala was trying to tell them.

“Lock whoever is still alive in the cells. Gala and I have a witch to go save.” Remy called before following the panther.

****

_That is a very big knife._

Virgil tried whacking Nero away from him with his shield, while also dodging the knife. He was probably only still alive due to copious amounts of adrenaline running through his body as the two fought. He just had to end up in a dead-end. He dodged another strike, before swinging a fist into Nero’s side.

_“Aahhk”_

Virgil found himself on the ground and quickly rolled as the knife came down. He saw an opening and darted past Nero back down the hall. He was exhausted and hasn’t run this much in… actually, he’s never actually had to do this much running. Yet, he heard the frustrated growl behind him and his body decided that it liked running. It was better than the other option.

_Scrrrrrreeeeeech!_

Virgil sensed the incoming trap and immediately dropped to the ground. He didn’t dare look up and see what had awaited him as he army-crawled forward, waiting for the screeching metal above him to stop. A hand caught his ankle, causing Virgil to scream in fear as he kicked at the being. One solid kick landed, and the hand released him. He scrambled to his feet and ran, feeling something embedded in his arm, as a reward for not waiting for the trap to finish.

Nero managed to corner Virgil once again, huffing from the struggle. Virgil threw a fist, but Nero caught the wrist and twisted it behind the witch, pinning him into the corner properly. Virgil continued to squirm, only to be flung into the opposite corner and repined as a new mechanism started, having been triggered.

Virgil’s wrists were properly pinned and a knife was very close to dangerous spots. He shut his eyes as a new mechanical roar started up, attempting to match the blood roaring in Virgil’s ears. Both blocked out whatever Nero was gloatingly saying to his son, which Virgil was grateful for. The pain Virgil kept waiting to feel didn’t come. Instead, the grip on his wrists loosened and let him go.

_Thump._

Virgil collapsed onto the ground and saw the man crumpled with several darts sticking out of him. Virgil grabbed the knife and scrambled away from the bastard, waiting for some movement. His mind started counting the seconds as his heart hammered, waiting for the bastard to stop pretending and come after him. Yet, after getting to a hundred, Virgil crawled over and touched his neck, searching for a pulse.

Foiled by his own traps.

Virgil’s body crumpled as his nerves finally relaxed. Anyone who saw him would have thought his mind had finally broke as he started laughing hysterically as tears spilled from his face. Finally, his body stilled as he tried catching his breath, shocked to still be alive after this entire fight.

_“VIRGIL!”_

Virgil blinked and suddenly Remy’s terrified face was in his field of vision. The witch sat up and saw that a giant panther sat watching. Virgil noted that there was a small tendril of magic tightly wrapped around the familiar, showing that Magic itself was doing what little it could to help them by allowing the tiny kitten to transform into a giant beast. Virgil’s attention was yanked away from Galaxy as Remy frantically started looking over his injuries. They were rambling about stuff that Virgil really couldn’t process right now. Stuff about him being an idiot and not to scare them like that again and honestly Virgil really kind of wanted Remy to shut up and let him breathe…

_The counterspell._

Virgil’s heartbeat started racing again. “We need to get back to the lab, now!”

“Vee, it’s OK” Remy tried to calm the man down.

“Save it.” He said, moving to the panther. “Gala, lead the way back, please.”


	46. Golden Light Goes Boom.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil finishes the spell.

“It will heal fine, Dee,” Patton commented to the shifter as he looked over a cut on Remus’s arm. “Just looks worse than it is. You, on the other hand, are supposed to remain laying down, mister!”

Dee grumbled but did as he was told. He watched as Roman dragged the last limp body into a cell. He could tell Emile was uncomfortable with this entire situation, but they all knew that they had to do _something_ with them before the hunters woke up. Dee groaned as he turned his eyes onto the ceiling.

Of course, that was when the shouting and scuffling noises started up. Dee instantly sat up, reaching for the glass shard as Virgil, Remy, and the panther entered the lab. Remy was desperately trying to convince Virgil of something, while the witch seemed to ignore them as he went about grabbing more spell casting supplies.

“Remy, just stop! The outer circle was not designed to be a permanent fix. It is part of a larger spell that I have to finish casting as soon as I can! There is no stopping now.”

“Virgil!” Emile gasped, looking over the witch. “You look terrible. Surely whatever this is can wait a few minutes?”

“Gala, where did you put the page?” Virgil asked, ignoring him.

The panther scampered over to a table. It pulled out a scroll and set it on the table Virgil was dumping things. Dee stood up and moved over to look over the table, feeling utterly confused. Virgil ripped open the scroll, quickly reading over it before he started working on cutting up some herbs.

“Please, you’re hurt. Let us take care of this.” Remy begged.

 _Finally,_ Virgil turned to his best friend. “Remy. I’m telling you that this _has_ to happen. My plan has gone well. I’ll admit that my idea of dealing with that bastard wasn’t the best, but everything is still going and in motion. If I do not finish the spell, magic is gone. You have rarely let any of my plans work out on their own. This time, I’m putting my foot down. I know what I am doing.”

“But…”

“ _No_. You said that you lot had to re-earn my trust when we were in that cave, remember? Well, trust is a two-way street. I can’t fully trust you if you don’t trust me on the things that I _know._ I know the risks and dangers of what I’m doing Remy. This is still one of those times I _need_ you to trust me. You trusted me enough during the first half. Now prove that you weren’t just buying time for yourself and let me work.”

Remy could have been slapped with a fish Remus found in the market. Virgil gave a nod as he went back to chopping herbs at an alarming rate. Remy looked around as if searching for someone to back them up, but everyone was a bit too surprised by the sudden movement to offer them much help.

“Virgil, what happened? You can work but tell us where did you go after the fairy circle and all of this.” Logan said, staring at the blob with purple.

“Magic gave me advanced magic lessons before throwing me into Thomas’s desk. We formed a plan to save you lot by combining two absurdly complex spells together. I went and cast some spells around where Thomas and his friends were preparing fairy circles with whatnot before coming down here and yeah.” Virgil poured some water into a cauldron before dumping the herbs he’d been cutting in. “Now, I’m racing the clock to complete the second half of the spell while Sand Bitch over there tries to stop me.”

“Hey!”

“What happens if you don’t finish it?” Patton asked, terrified.

Virgil pulled a Bunsen burner over to heat up the cauldron. “Magic will vanish, killing all of us but Emile and Remus due to our connection to magic. Now, stop trying to distract me. I have a lot of work to do and until sunrise to complete it.”

Emile glanced at his watch before rolling up his sleeves. “That’s two hours. What do you need done, Virge?”

He paused glancing at the therapist, who was ready to work. “Are you sure, Em?”

“Just tell me what to do. I haven’t a clue about all this magic stuff, but I can chop and stir stuff.”

Virgil motioned to Remy. “Get the dagger from Remy and help me mince these.”

“What else can we do?” Patton asked.

“You might as well assign all of us now while you’re splitting things in your head right now,” Logan added.

“Are you sure?”

All but Remy immediately agreed. Remy wasn’t sure, but seeing how focused Virgil was, they knew they weren’t stopping him. _Guess it’s time to finally give Virge the trust he needs_. “What you need, gurl?”

Virgil gave a small nod as he dumped some herbs for Emile, hands working on automatic for these simple beginning things. “Pat, you help Emile and me with this. Dee and Remus, can you two find the head security area and shut down the lab’s traps and whatnot? Then collect anyone who is still alive and bring them here. Security cameras should tell you if they have any other supernatural here and where the groups of guards are. Remy, find one of the vans and follow whatever tunnel they use to bring beings to the cells. While Pat and Emile are helping this, I can throw together a memory potion. It’ll leave them with complete amnesia but it beats killing whoever is still alive. Logan and Roman, start gathering everything that hints at magic that you two can find. We won’t want to leave any of that where some random person in the woods can find all of it when we leave. Sound good?”

Everyone agreed and started on their task. Patton didn’t like that Dee was up and running off, but if Virgil was certain about this entire thing, he didn’t have that much room to argue. Watching his witch partner, there wasn’t much doubt to be left as the witch was working about six different things at once and running himself into the ground to do so.

“Hey, Lo!” Roman called over, having found a drawer of glasses. “Come here.”

Logan went over. “What, Roman?”

The prince gave his partner a disbelieving look, one that Logan sensed more than saw, before remembering that Logan’s vision was essentially blobs for anything more than a foot from his face. “Specs, search through this and find a pair of glasses that will work until we can get your backup set.”

Logan looked at the drawer and pulled out a pair, wondering how many there were in there. “That is a good idea. Thank you, Roman.”

Roman made a face at the drawer. “It is a bit creepy that he kept a drawer of glasses. First the toy rabbit and now this? Creep.”

“Hey, leave Mrs. Fluffybottom out of this!” Virgil called over. “She was a good toy for a kid who would otherwise start at blank walls for hours on end!”

“Doesn’t make the fact that the toy and the glasses are still here any less creepy!” Roman called back, watching Logan try different pairs on.

The group fell silent as they went back to their work. Eventually, a wall opened up to reveal one of the vans, though this one looked less like a kidnapper one and more like a ‘we have too many people’ van. Remy parked it and moved over to the second cauldron of a silvery potion. Virgil carefully poured some into a vial, reminding Remy to be careful with it. Roman started loading the _millions of books–this dude was a bigger nerd than Logan!–_ into the van while Logan continued to bring more over. Remy slipped into the cell and giving each person a drop of the potion.

Virgil’s vision was starting to blur as his exhaustion tried to get him to slow down. The room paused as he picked up an empty jar and threw it into the wall while screaming at himself to stay awake. Without bothering to glance at his worried friends, Virgil threw himself back into his work. Remy _really_ wanted to stop him, but this far into making a potion and spellcasting, it would only be worse.

Dee and Remus popped in, bringing Remy new beings to give a drop of potion to. Roman and Remus switched tasks and forced the people to wake up. While not fully awake, the two started taking beings up to the entryway and positioning them so that they would wander out into the forest. Roman informed Remus that they were _not_ going to tell the anxious witch that was what they did and that they were more discreet. Unbeknownst to the two of them, Gala was sprinting around cleaning up their mess by directing the dazed humans towards a road outside of the ring of fairy circles. _Really, idiots? She just had to do everything herself!_

Not that Virgil was paying enough attention to what the two were doing, as he moved on to creating the new circle with various ruins and herbs painted into the cement. None of the group were sure where this knowledge and skill came from, which worried them, but Virgil was working efficiently; they didn’t know the entire spell he was working, so each of them decided that they would just have to trust Virgil on this.

“Ro, Lo, Pat, come here, please,” Virgil said, his eyes taking in the circle.

They obediently went over. Virgil took the mushrooms from their necks before unraveling them, carefully using his jacket sleeves to work. Shock filled the three fairies as he began to reconstruct the reverse deal. They glanced at each other, each knowing that their partners weren’t going to stop the witch while not doing anything themselves. Virgil didn’t look the three of them in the eye as he pricked their fingers and renewed the blood deal. A new herb and ruin.

“Vee, what…” Patton begged with tears in his eyes.

“I’m sorry, Pat.” Virgil gulped before holding the three necklaces up. “I cast this reverse deal upon Roman, Logan, and Patton.”

He draped the glowing necklaces over the three fairies. “That should be enough to allow the three of you to go with the rest.”

“What? You’re not being left here, Virgil.” Emile stated.

“Yes, you lot are,” Virgil stated. “You must leave the circle, before the first beams of light show over the horizon. This spell will take the surrounding energy and that will include anyone who is inside this circle. The first part of this spell pulled energy from the area in order to fuel this spell. If you lot remain, you will die. I cannot allow that to happen. You will leave me.”

“What about you?” Roman demanded, ignoring the panic of _he just released a bunch of people out into that area…_

“I will cast the spell and then we’ll see,” Virgil answered. “You must leave, now.”

The group tried to argue, but Virgil was already back to his work as a large, angry panther herded the group to the van. The panther was not going to let them stay and Remus–recognizing a large stubborn cat was not to be trifled with– was the only one who was willing to help her. Soon, the group was forced into the back of the van with Emile climbing into the driver’s seat. Emile gave the working witch one last look before he started driving, feeling sick as he did so. _I can’t believe we’re just leaving him here…_

The group didn’t have a lot of room to work with, in the back of the van, because of the mass of magic stuff and the panther who was laying on top of shifting books. All of them wondered where the boundary was, but Emile assumed that as long as the entrance they left remained behind them, they’ll eventually pass it. There was no doubt when they did finally pass as the boundary slammed into the various magical beings. Dee found himself instantly falling into his snake form. Remy’s sand was practically falling off of them, thankfully not hitting any of the very susceptible beings. The three fairies were suddenly fluttering anxiously. The panther shimmered and an exhausted kitten appeared, not even giving a hint she noticed her magic ending.

“Emile, stop!” Remy called, as they threw open the unlocked doors.

The group swarmed out of the van as the entrance they’d left had a beam of golden light shoot out from it into the sky. The ground was shaking and they watched as parts of it collapse, revealing parts of the underground lab. More golden light appeared from the wreak. The light coming from the mess easily matched the light coming from the rising sun.

The magical beings could feel the energy being sapped just beyond the boundary. The ground gave a violent shake and a dome of the golden light tore away what was still covered by the land. It was too bright to look at but impossible to turn your eyes away from. All seven beings could feel the sheer power coming from the magic.

As if a large golden flower blooming, the dome split open to reveal a chanting Virgil. His eyes were shining brighter than the dome as his clothes and hair were whipped around him as if he were lifted solely by wind. Remy could see touches of the very essence of magic guiding their best friend’s movements as he rose his arms, still chanting in a dead, monotonous voice.

The light shot up into the air, following the direction of the witch’s arms. The sky seemed to be set on fire. Each being couldn’t help but think the same thing: _there’s no way the regular humans won’t notice this_. The earth was shaking again as more golden light shot outwards, slamming into some invisible barrier just three feet in front of Remy, who was creeping closer and closer to the boundary.

_“Upon this morning does the new protector of magic rise. A knight of nature and magic. Beneath the eyes of magic, does he rise. State your name, knight of magic.”_

The group could almost see Virgil’s gulp as his voice answered in a more _normal_ tone. “The protector of magic and knight of magic is Virgil Mage, son of Nero and Cassandra, heir of the magic of the green and purple witches.”

In answer, the golden light shot straight up. The ground gave another jolt, sending all seven beings onto the ground. Warmth ran over their skin as they threw their hands over their eyes, the light becoming too bright to even the closed eye. Something was roaring in their ears as the warmth started to become uncomfortable, even for the eternally cold Dee.

Slowly, the roaring and light receded. Remy forced themselves to open their eyes and the first thing they saw was the sky full of tendrils of every color imaginable, and even more colors that hadn’t existed in the rivers before. More than a being who was used to seeing the array of colors in the sky could have never dreamed of existing.

Remy knew that the river of magic had been slowing and vanishing. It used to only be a slow-moving river of light. From the river, little streams would break away to fall to earth, to the more concentrated spots of supernatural power. Yet, now, the entire sky seemed to be filled with more colors and energy than they could ever recall there being. Magic fell to the earth almost as if it were raining over the land rather than the small but distinct streams.

“VIRGIL!” Roman screeched as he yanked his partners up. “Come on, we need to save that idiot!”

Remy blinked as they watched the three fairies take flight and shot towards the rubble. They hadn’t seen where the witch had vanished off to, so they had to hope that the fairies knew where he was. Emile helped Remy up, noting that the sand being was trembling. He wrapped an arm around them and rolled his eyes as Remus tackled the shifter in a tight hug.

The fairies dove into the mess. The three of them started tossing aside rubble, searching for their last partner. There was no sign of him, though. Patton froze before screaming out Virgil’s name, a small swirl of light shooting from his hand. Instantly, the medic was running for a caved-in section and wormed his way into a hole. Logan and Roman glanced at each other before flying over to him.

 _“He’s breathing! Oh great wings, he’s breathing!”_ Patton called out.

Immediately, the prince and advisor started to dig rubble out, making the hole bigger. Patton carefully lifted the limp man and Logan and Roman grabbed his arms, pulling him out. Patton easily climbed out and looked at the witch’s face. There were so many cuts on him, but the medic could feel that he was mostly just drained of energy. The three fairies carefully arranged the witch to best carry him back to the van, where their friends waited.

After all of them were assured that the anxious witch was going to be alright, they carefully made him a little nest in the van with whatever jackets they had. Gala peeked as her human was placed in his nest and immediately went to join him, happily purring. _They did a very good job,_ she thought as she went back to sleep.


	47. Happiness or Lack of Energy? Does It Matter?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang return home. (Plus, an extra little epilogue at the end to ensure their happy ending).

The king was pacing while his two advisors watched. They’d given all the comfort they could and reminded him that the plan had gone well. Magic was not only saved but strengthened beyond what any fairy alive remembered it ever being. Scouts were telling the advisors that the humans believed there had been a meteor or something that caused all the ruckus that morning. There was a message from a witch, who agreed to stay behind, saying they saw the prince and his partners flying. None of that mattered to the king though. Not until a small bolt of lightning struck the mysterious black patch on his floor, leaving a small plant.

Thomas dove for it, while Joan and Talyn jumped. He picked it up, hoping. The flower was missing but honestly, the flower wasn’t as important as the leaves. He counted the four leaves showing that the plan was successful. He let out a weak laugh as he hugged the four-leaf clover to his chest. _They were alright._

****

Virgil woke up to immediately be dotted on by the seven beings. At some point, Virgil watched as Remy sprinkled sand on Dee and Remus, commenting that they still had a nice long drive home as Roman ran his fingers through Virgil’s hair. Once they were sure he was alright, they forced him to explain everything. His voice started to crack as he talked about the memories, planning with Thomas, and preparing for the spell.

“Wait, what was the flower supposed to be, if it wasn’t a signal for some rescue attempt?” Remy asked.

“It was a signal, but we hid what it was signaling. The flower was a _Trifolium dubium_ or lesser clover. It’s the most common plant-associated with four-leaf clovers. Depending on the number of leaves, Thomas succeeded in getting the ruins carved, herbs scattered, and potion poured in the circles. Four meant success. Three meant that I was screwed and to hope something happened.” Virgil answered.

“You and plants, seriously.” Dee groaned.

“So, you had literally started the spell before coming down to the lab.”

“Now do you understand that I wasn’t just winging it? Was it really so hard to believe that one oblivious dumbass witch could come up with his own plan and stick to it?” Virgil looked serious as he stared at the sand being.

Remy awkwardly rubbed their neck. “OK, I guess I really do need to learn to trust your judgment a bit more. I’m not saying _completely_ as you are still a dumbass who goes and gets into middle of the night fights with random fairy princes and take advise from random floating voices.”

“Magic, it was magic, so I was supposed to follow it,” Virgil stated, snuggling in closer to his pile of partners. “But, I can take that compromise, so long as you trust the things that I _know_.”

The rest of the drive back home was spent working some cover story together as Roman insisted some people saw them kidnapped. Which, turned out to be accurate as they ended up having to spend a couple of hours explaining who took them, where they were taken, and how they got away. Both Logan and Roman struggled to not smile when they heard that Karen Smith was taken in as an accessory to kidnapping. Virgil really wasn’t capable of caring about that stuff. He just wanted to go back to sleep.

“Alright, we need to go show a certain father that his misfit is alright before we head home and ignore all the trauma until tomorrow by watching movies,” Remy commented once the eight of them were released.

“Wait, can we do something mildly ridiculous?” Patton asked. “I think we can all use the laugh.”

So, that was how Thomas ended up appearing in a fairy circle with Patton loudly saying bad things about himself to Emile; Roman, Dee, and Remus holding a pizza while loudly singing along to Hamilton and; Logan, Virgil, and Remy ominously chanting his name over a rainbow flag with a tiny black kitten trying to eat the flag for taking her well-earned attention. The Fairy King was very confused, to say the least. The group had a good laugh, at least until Dee suddenly grabbed Roman, glaring at the king. No one was really worried about Roman as the shifter was holding a twig to the prince, but it did surprise them.

“Tell me what you did to my father, pest.”

Remus glanced at Virgil. “I wish I were so confident to call the fairy king a pest.”

Still, Thomas answered the man, already wincing as the tears filled the shifter’s eyes. Remus pulled Dee into a hug and informed the group that they would head back to town and pick up some dinner before they all arrived at Remy and Emile’s house for a movie night. With that, the green man picked his husband up bridal style and started back to town.

“Grubby little peasant,” Roman muttered rolling his shoulders.

“Well, I guess I now know what happened to him…” Thomas muttered to himself before moving over to his son and pulling the man into a hug. “Don’t you do that to me again, young man. I’m not getting younger. I can’t keep having these heart-stopping panics over your disappearances.”

Roman immediately hugged his father back. “I’m sorry, Dad. I’ll try not to. No promises though.”

Logan weakly cleared his throat. “I… This is probably the best time to do this, I guess.”

The fairy handed over a paper to the king and prince. Virgil glanced at Patton, wondering when the fairy had time to write something. Roman went to take the paper from his father, but Thomas immediately pulled it out of his reach.

“I hate to say this to you, but…” Thomas crumpled the paper. “Your request has been denied, Logan. You claim that your relationship with Roman is what caused this entire thing. Yet, have you not considered the fact that you are better at getting this dork to work on anything? To keep him following the majority of protocols so as not to stress you out even more? Yeah, no, sorry. You are not turning in any resignations for this. Now, stop trying to quit your dream job and give me a hug, boy.”

Logan went bright red but gave the king a hug. Patton giggled and tackled Thomas, asking if they surprised him with their summoning. The king laughed and told the medic that it was amusing and that he needed it. Next to get yanked into the king’s arms was Virgil who rolled his eyes, but let the king tighten his hug, thanking the witch for bringing his son home.

Thomas finally turned to Remy and Emile. Emile was awkward and not sure what to do, but Thomas opened his arms and Emile moved to hug the uncle he hasn’t seen in fourteen long years.

“It’s good to see you, Emile. Been a while, huh?” Thomas said, smiling at his nephew.

“I… yeah… Good to see you again, Uncle Thomas.” Emile answered, gulping. “I… well… thank you. I never got a chance when mom was throwing you guys out of the house, but thank you. You… you guys really saved me.”

Thomas’s eyes went wide as he yanked the man back into another hug. “Hey, shoosh, it’s alright.”

Virgil turned to his partners as Thomas softly spoke with Emile. “So, you three going to return home and rest?”

The three fairies glanced at each other before Patton answered. “I think we’re actually going to join you guys in the movie marathon.”

“Wait, Virgil!” Thomas suddenly moved over to the witch. “What happened to your… to _him_?”

“Dead.” Virgil suddenly felt sick, but the fairy deserved to know. “His own traps killed him.”

Thomas let out a soft huff. “Died the same way he killed Jon. I… I think that’s a fair way to go.”

Roman’s eyes went wide. “Wait, Jon? Jon as in Pa? As in my parents saved you, Virge?”

The anxious man shifted awkwardly as Thomas answered. “Roman, do not blame Virgil for our decision. I… I know it is hard but…”

Roman tuned his dad’s rambling out, looking over the anxious man next to him. He lost his pa at eight years old. Sure, he was proud his pa went out a hero, but that didn’t stop the pain or the wish that he would come home. Years of his dad telling him that pa died saving a kid taken by a mean hunter cemented both the pride and longing in Roman. Now, he knew the kid who his pa died saving was a man he had fallen hard for.

Then Roman thought about how Dee has spent years hating fairies just because he saw some fairy while in the hospital. Could he really do that to himself? To place the blame of his pa’s death on someone his pa saved? Plus, he saw that lab. He couldn’t imagine growing up in something as terrifying as that with only a badly made rabbit as a companion. It didn’t matter who the child had been; that was no place for a child. Roman couldn’t blame them for his fathers’ decisions.

The prince pulled the king and the witch into a tight hug. He tried to put all of his love into the hug, telling the two of them what his voice refused to say. The two immediately hugged back, understanding the silent words.

Remy was ignoring the emotional turmoil as they wandered around. They found that their car was still at the bottom of the hill and they found a pair of glasses. Logan eagerly accepted his pair back and switched his glasses. They kept an eye on the area while their friends and partner talked with the fairy king. It took 5ever, but finally, they left the hill to go home after waving off the fairy king with his pizza.

Remy hadn’t even managed to take a deep breath in of their home before something slammed into them. It was wet, cold, and smelt bad. Virgil started laughing as horror filled Remy’s face as they realized what had happened. Remus was already running away cackling as Remy screeched and started after him, tripping over the fish, before scrambling back up to chase the cackling man.

“Great, now we can start using ‘Remus slapped you with a fish’ expression for disbelief and horror now,” Emile commented, as he made a face while picking the fish off the floor.

“Oh man, I wish I saw that,” Dee said from the hall he just came from, noticing the fish.

“Well, you can always get a good look while you separate the rat and sandman,” Roman said with an evil little smirk. “Be careful of teeth.”

Dee gave the fairy an unamused look, but there was a concerning screech so Dee did run off to separate Remy and Remus. Virgil glanced at Emile, who offered the witch an uncertain shrug, both worried about how pale their friend was. Still, the group went to work, getting everything ready for a long night of movies and relaxing.

Virgil found himself squished between Logan and Patton with Roman sprawled out in their laps. Remy set up Tangled before moving to cuddle their partner. Virgil glanced over and saw Dee already wrapped up in almost all the blankets in the house, half asleep again a humming Remus. Remus gave the witch a wink as he wrapped an arm around the pile of blankets.

The witch watched as the flower was taken and was struck by how much had changed from the day that Remy had sent him to the hill for a simple flower. A smile touched the witch’s lips as his mind reminded him of all the amazing memories he’s made in the past year.

_“I had intended to show you the plant I believe you to be looking for, but I became enthralled in your knowledge.”_

_“I thought you were planning on fighting me?” “I am. I’m fighting hate with love. Is it working?” “Yeah, Pat. It’s working.”_

_Tiny kitten purred as Virgil warmed up the kitten milk for her. Her eyes were looking around as if she were taking everything in._

_Virgil returned to the greenhouse to see Remy grinning as they taunted Roman about his fairy costume. Roman threw a taunt back while his partners rolled their eyes at Remy and Roman’s banter about costumes of all things. They’ll make great friends Virgil thought as he spoke up finally._

_His first time in the Realm of the Fae._

_The night he came back after running away to clear his head and saw how much his friends had worried about him._

_The deal followed by dinner celebrating their new relationship._

_Dancing with his partners at the dinner dance thing._

_Laughing with his friends over Dee’s reaction to Remus’s glowing green hair._

“You OK, mi amor?” Roman asked, gently taking Virgil’s hand and kissing it, unknowingly pulling the anxious man out of his sweet memories.

Virgil smiled as he leaned forward and planted a real kiss on the prince’s lips. “Yeah. I’m good.”

And for once, he didn’t have to mentally justify that answer, even to himself. He kissed Logan and Patton, hearing Remy yell at them to keep that ‘allo shit to yourselves’. Virgil snuggled in as Logan and Patton squished in tighter, being lulled to sleep, surrounded by his family.

****

**_ Epilogue:  _ **

**_ Years later on the morning of Nov 1st _ **

“So this is where you spend half of your time,” Remy commented, looking around the stone castle.

“Yes, I spend all that time standing here in the entryway to the Realm of the Fae. Now, come on you lot. I don’t need Logan or Roman accidentally stumbling upon us during the no-seeing each other time.”

The four friends followed the witch down several halls, chatting, and joking about the day finally being here. They arrived at Virgil’s study, a.k.a. his little home away from wedding madness. They entered and got comfortable, discussing the day’s celebrations and events and everything else, while still making fun of the last in the group to finally tie the knot.

Remy worked their magic on the man, making sure he would be the talk of fashionistas everywhere. Emile smiled at the anxious man and his spouse as he gave the red, light blue, navy blue, and purple Ixia on Virgil’s desk some water before giving Gala a scratch behind her ear, careful not to mess up her little flower crown or lavender dress. He glanced at Dee and Remus, who were looking over all the books that Virgil had before his eyes fell on the picture of the polyam’s sunrise proposal, surrounded by an entire hill full of the four different Ixia.

_Knock. Knock._

“What’s up?” Virgil called out.

Thomas opened the door and smiled at the five friends. “Just checking on you lot.”

“Roman and Logan still being groomzillas?” the witch asked, laughing.

“Oh, you know it. Roman wants everything to be perfect and Logan wants to ensure you four aren’t breaking any wedding traditions while claiming he isn’t superstitious. Just the same.” He answered, also laughing. “Oh, and Patton wanted me to deliver your flower crown.”

Remy snatched the flower crown from the king before carefully adding it to Virgil’s styled hair, making minute changes, as if the crown would stay exactly as they wanted throughout the day.

“So, how are you four enjoying the Realm of the Fae on this joyous Samhain?” Thomas asked, grinning at his soon to be son-in-law.

“Better as soon as we aren’t limited on where we can go by the groomzillas,” Remy answered. “I do have to say it is odd actually being here over just hearing about it though.”

 _“Your majesty, it’s time!_ ”

Virgil paled, but stood up and offered an arm to Gala. The cat happily climbed up and curled around his neck, purring loudly in his ear. The king wished the witch luck before heading off to be with his son. The friends followed Virgil to the garden where the witch was convinced half of the kingdom sat in attendance.

“Alright, off with you lot,” Virgil stated, shooing his friends.

Dee, Remus, and Emile went to the front row and took their seats while Remy straightened the witch’s suit again. They were probably just as nervous about this entire wedding as the witch who was getting married. An official came over and started barking orders at them about where they were supposed to stand and stuff Virgil wasn’t really caring about.

“You ready, Vee?” Remy asked, scratching Gala’s ear from where she was perched.

“Well, too late now. Actually, it was probably too late when I asked my partners to join me for a picnic at sunrise on a hill I’d spent months carefully tending to flowers on for the sole purpose of a nice blooming sunrise as I sang them all a cute song about everything we went through and like all the things I hoped for our future and then asked them all to marry me…”

Remy chuckled. “And I’m just glad you weirdos decided to hold the wedding on Samhain so we could come watch.”

“Yeah, well I can’t hold my wedding without my soul-sibling attending and doing the dumb traditional part of giving their little brother to a bunch of fae…” Virgil laughed.

“You said it! You finally said it! I have been waiting for is day for years!” Remy looked close to sobbing in joy.

Before Virgil could answer, the two of them were being sent up the aisle and forced to wait for the three fairies. Patton came next arm linked with his dad. He was in a very soft blue A-line wedding gown, with his wings excitedly fluttering behind him. Then Logan in a dark navy suit with Talyn and Joan on either side of him. Finally, the prince in a pink ball gown walked with the king down the aisle, smiling at his three partners.

Virgil wouldn’t remember much about the ceremony other than feeling his poor heart pound, standing with his three amazing and handsome partners. He would recall King Thomas muttering about ‘don’t let there be wasps’ as the officiator asked people to speak against their marriage or to forever hold their peace. He definitely would remember sweeping the prince off his feet and kissing him, laughing at Roman’s shock that someone had pulled his normal stunt against him on his wedding day no less. He would remember the butterfly kisses on Patton’s cheeks and forehead before placing a real kiss on giggling lips. He would remember Logan suddenly sweep him off his feet to give him the movie-worthy dramatic kiss.

“I love you. All three of you with all my heart.” Virgil whispered as they huddled together in a tight hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is it. Our anxious bean, friends, and fairies are safe and living happily ever after. It's been a journey for the gang and for us. I want to thank everyone who commented, left kudos, or even if you just popped on and read the chapter. You all are amazing! Writing this story and interacting with you all has made my day for the past couple months and once again reminded me what I love about this fandom 💜 I love all of you in this Sand Fam!!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! 💜💜💜
> 
> Feel free to follow or throw questions at me on Tumblr: @winterknight1087


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